Marijn Kremers continues as the top driver in the EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings (Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca)

The events in the 2023 season are winding down, and the ability to gain points in the eKartingNews.com Shifterkart Driver Rankings presented by Skip Barber Racing School are counting down to the very end. The first of this year’s championships were decided recently at the Superkarts! USA Pro Tour, providing drivers the opportunity to better their scores. Many did in the top-10, as the standings is more defined following the two rounds of action at the New Castle Motorsports Park.

Now a two-time defending champion on the SKUSA Pro Tour, Marijn Kremers (PSL / Birel ART) has been able to keep the top spot in the EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings. Kremers had a victory from a year ago removed and was unable to land on the podium in two rounds, but gained enough points for the championship and continues at the top of the EKN standings. Double weekend winner AJ Myers (Magik Kart USA) closed the gap to Kremers, down to just 109 points separating the two at the top of the standings. Myers missed the Utah weekend of the SKUSA Pro Tour. Jumping ahead to third is former SKUSA Pro Tour champion Kyle Wick (GFC Karting). Missing the SKUSA title by just one point, Wick’s New Castle weekend moved him up three spots and into the top-three.

Wick was able to hurdle GFC Karting teammate Jacob Gulick, who remains in the fourth position. The two-time SpringNationals winner and Challenge of the Americas champion improved his score slightly, recording two eight-place finishes to end up third in the SKUSA Pro Tour championship chase, only six points out of the top position. Two top-10 finishes were not enough to keep Hunter Pickett within the top-three. The former Challenge of the Americas champion lost points from last month’s standings to end up fifth this month.

The difference from last months to this month’s score for Billy Musgrave (Factory Kart) is one less point. The four-time SKUSA SuperNationals winner finished on the podium at New Castle, but his score did not improve, and he lost one position. It was one position in Sunday’s main event that cost him his first SKUSA Pro Tour championship, ending up fourth in the title chase back by seven points. Former SKUSA Pro Tour title winner Daniel Formal (RPG / Kosmic) advanced one position to seventh, improving his score at New Castle with a sixth and seventh place result to record eight races over the last 12 months. He jumped over Giorgio Carrara (IM / Lenzo Kart), who was absent from the SKUSA SummerNationals.

Jumping ahead to ninth and into the top-10 is Keawn Tandon (GFC Karting), who made his first start on the SKUSA Pro Tour at the SummerNationals. It was his first time visiting New Castle in many years, and had a best finish of ninth on Saturday to improve his score 138 points. His improvement was more than that of Tahlon Yockel (Magik Kart USA), who is now tenth. Yockel made his SKUSA debut of 2023 at the SummerNationals, placing fifth in both main events. Filip Niemkiewicz (PSL / Birel ART) is the lone driver to fall out of the top-10, slipping to 13th.

The top-10 brands is currently made up of 2 Birel ART, 2 Magik Kart, 3 GFC, 1 Factory Kart, 1 Kosmic and 1 Lenzo Kart – featuring drivers from the USA, Netherlands, Costa Rica, and Italy.

The driver ‘On the Move’ for July is Justin White (SRP / Maranello). He recorded his seventh and eighth race toward the EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings, moving up 53 positions to be 15th. White was involved in a nasty wreck in the Prefinal on Sunday that included Annie Rhule. The contact sent White’s kart flying, thankfully with Justin ejected early, sending pieces of the kart soaring into the air as it did multiple cartwheels. White was able to get up right away and walked from the incident without injury. He came back in the final to come from 24th to finish 16th later in the day.

Upcoming Events

Shifterkart #1 – Marijn Kremers
Gemert, Netherlands

(Photo: EKN – Nate Dean)

This past weekend, Marijn Kremers became the second driver in SKUSA Pro Tour history to repeat as champion in the Pro Shifter division over its 14-year span. Kremers battled through illness all weekend in New Castle to finish with a best weekend result of fourth in the Sunday Final. It was enough for the PSL Karting / Birel ART driver to claim his second straight series championship by just one point in what was one of the most dramatic endings to a title chase in SKUSA history. It was not the same performance we saw last year, where he won and finished second. Those lost points has tightened up his advantage in the standings heading toward the end of the 2023 season.

Point Breakdown

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Shifterkart #2 – AJ Myers
Tampa, Florida

(Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

It was a near sweep on the weekend at the SKUSA SummerNationals for AJ Myers at New Castle Motorsports Park. His two wins at the SKUSA Pro Tour finale brought his win total at the New Castle, IN facility to 10 dating back to 2016. That’s means Myers has won half the Pro Shifter races during that span, including all six races during the 2020 SKUSA Summer Festival. The Magik Kart USA driver replaced finishes of second and first from last year, slightly improving his score to close the gap to Kremers heading into the final events of the year.

Point Breakdown

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Shifterkart #3 – Kyle Wick
Auburn, Washington

(Photo: Studio52.us)

One point, just one point is all that kept Kyle Wick from earning his second SKUSA Pro Tour championship. The positive, his two results at the SKUSA SummerNationals helped to promote the GFC Karting driver into the top-three of the EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings. His average finish over the seven races is better than that of Kremers, which shows the consistency that Wick has been able to produce over the season, including victory in his USPKS debut last month. While the one point deficit that kept him from winning the SKUSA Pro Tour title in 2023, Wick has room to improve his score and contend for the ‘Driver of the Year’ honor at the end of the season.

Point Breakdown

EKN Driver Rankings Calculation Process
The EKN Driver Rankings are calculated using a driver’s best finishes in major North American races. Assembled using events from the previous 12 months from the current date, we use a driver’s best seven finishes in the TaG and Shifterkart categories to determine their overall current point total. With each new release, results posted from more than one year ago are discarded. To deliver our ranking list, we tabulate the results of all the national programs and selected regional programs. We have also included the results for the major one-off events such as the SKUSA SuperNationals, the Rock Island Grand Prix, and other special races.

Each race is initially weighted based on the prestige and history of the event or series with a score of ten (10) being the highest attainable base ranking. For 2023, the SKUSA SuperNationals will receive a score of 10 in its initial weighting in the TaG and Shifterkart categories. A base ranking of 9.5 is set for the SKUSA Pro Tour, while a base ranking of 9 goes to the SKUSA Winter Series, United States Pro Kart Series, Florida Winter Tour, Challenge of the Americas, ROK Vegas, Rotax Grand Nationals, Rock Island Grand Prix, and California ProKart Challenge. Other national and regional program races were given a base ranking of either 8.5 or 8.0.

The EKN staff reserves the right to adjust the rankings of each event throughout the year. A minimum entry total for any event to be considered for the Driver Rankings program is five (5). If an event does not have at least five (5) drivers starting the race, those results will not be tabulated toward the Driver Rankings.

Added to these initial rankings are two variables that help confirm the true importance of an event to the ranking process – field size and field strength. A percentage of one weighting point is added for the size of the field, while the number of existing top-50 drivers entered offers another full point or fraction of a point. The sum of these numbers becomes the overall ranking for any race.

Following a race, drivers receive points based on their finishing positions with 100 points earned for a win. Each subsequent position drops by one point with 99 points given to the second-place driver and so on throughout the field. These points are then multiplied by the overall ranking to produce a driver’s final point total from each event. Using a driver’s best seven races, we calculate each driver’s overall score and subsequent ranking.

EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings presented by Skip Barber Racing School – as of August 1, 2023

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