Marijn Kremers enters the final days of 2023 leading the EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings (Photo: EKN)

The final days of the 2023 season are ahead, and the penultimate standings for the eKartingNews.com Shifterkart Driver Rankings presented by Skip Barber Racing School are tabulated. All the season championships have been decided, including the major programs and regional series. All that remains are the big ones, with ROK Vegas and the SKUSA SuperNationals 26 left on the Shifterkart schedule.

Now two-time SKUSA Pro Tour champion Marijn Kremers (PSL / Birel ART) remains at the top of the order with a season of consistent results and enters the year-end as the defending winner at the ROK Vegas event. Inaugural USPKS Pro Shifter champion AJ Myers (Magik Kart USA) was unable to close the gap to Kremers, sitting back by 109 points entering the final stretch of the season. Now two-time USPKS race winner Kyle Wick (GFC Karting) remains in the third spot, trailing Myers by 68 points to put the top three within 200 markers.

In fact, none of the top eight changed with Challenge of the Americas champion Jacob Gulick (GFC Karting) in fourth. Hunter Pickett (PSL / Birel ART) remains in the in the top-five ahead of four-time SKUSA SuperNationals winner Billy Musgrave (Factory Karts). Three-time SuperNats victor Daniel Formal (RPG / Kosmic) has the least number of races in the top-10, with just 8 over the last 12 months. He sits seventh ahead of Giorgio Carrera (IM / Lenzo Kart).

The only position change was ninth and tenth, with Tahlon Yockel (Magik Kart USA) and Keawn Tandon (GFC Karting) swapping spots. Yockel is coming off a runner-up finish at the USPKS finale to help boost his point total. Of the top-10, eight are already confirmed on the grid for the SKUSA SuperNationals 26 – missing Musgrave and Tandon as of today.

The ‘On the Move’ driver this month is Michael Riccio (Magik Kart USA). The Canadian advanced 33 positions, adding a win at the Stars Championship Series finale along with two top-six results at USPKS to close out the 2023 season.

Upcoming Events

Shifterkart #1 – Marijn Kremers
Gemert, Netherlands

(Photo: EKN – Nate Dean)

Two championships were earned on the season for the Dutch driver racing with PSL Karting and Birel ART. Taking two wins at the Florida Winter Tour helped Kremers claim the ROK Shifter crown. Consistent results over the three events of the SKUSA Pro Tour helped him to earn a second straight championship. It was not as successful in USPKS but did end in a vice-champion honor behind AJ Myers in the inaugural championship. Kremers is the target heading to ROK Vegas as the defending race winner while he still has unfinished business at the SuperNationals, including three straight runner-up results over the last five editions.

Point Breakdown

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Shifterkart #2 – AJ Myers
Tampa, Florida

(Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

The record books in karting for the United States has a lot of AJ Myers name in it. From the early days of the USPKS, Myers was the 2014 IAME Senior champion. Fast forward to 2023, and he became the inaugural Pro Shifter title winner. That goes with the three SKUSA Pro Tour championships already on his CV. What’s missing? Wins in Vegas. Not racing at ROK Vegas, he will have to put all his chips in at the SuperNationals 26. His best finish has been runner-up twice (2019 and 2017) with a total of four podium results since 2014.

Point Breakdown

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Shifterkart #3 – Kyle Wick
Auburn, Washington

(Photo: Studio52.us)

The role of ‘spoiler’ on the USPKS season for the inaugural Pro Shifter season went to Kyle Wick. The GFC Karting driver won in the only two starts he made in 2023 – New Castle and Trackhouse. A string of top-five results over the six rounds of the SKUSA Pro Tour nearly got him a second SKUSA Pro Tour championship, missing it by just one point. This fall, GFC will celebrate the five year anniversary of the brand’s launch, including its first major victory at ROK Vegas. Can Wick add his name to Mathias Ramirez and Oliver Askew (Trackmagic) as winners in Vegas.

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 October 16, 2023

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