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| eKartingNews.com Driver Rankings - May 15, 2009 |
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The May edition of the eKartingNews.com Driver rankings has been released, matching the best drivers in the Intercontinental C (ICC), Touch and Go (TaG) and Stock Moto categories. The racing action across the country is well under way with the warmer days of Spring greeting many of the racing programs in the Northern areas with the Summer months on the horizon.
With more racers not getting out on track, the Driver Rankings are starting to see some changes in the three categories. The most drastic change was a top the Stock Moto standings with the first change taking place in its short history as Bobby Legate demoted Patrick Cushenberry from the number one position. The ICC standings looks very similar to last month’s rankings with Canadian Michael Vincec still holding the top spot with Kyle Wiegand holding strong in the TaG division.
With the recent announcement of the creation of Championship Karting International (CKI) series, EKN has added their four events to the Driver Rankings calendar for ICC and TaG. All four events, including the New Castle Motorsports Park event to be held May 29-31, will be given a base ranking of 9
ICC
ICC Driver Rankings Top-10
| Pos | Apr. 17 | Plus/Minus | Driver | Races | Score| 1. | 1 | NC | Michael Vincec | 10 | 7710 | | 2. | 2 | NC | Alex Speed | 17 | 7655 | | 3. | 3 | NC | Gary Carlton | 13 | 7533 | | 4. | 4 | NC | David Jurca | 9 | 7517 | | 5. | 6 | 1 | Fritz Leesmann | 15 | 7295 | | 6. | 5 | -1 | Jordy Vorrath | 9 | 7276 | | 7. | 9 | 2 | Ron White | 9 | 7180 | | 8. | 8 | NC | Cody Jolly | 11 | 7108 | | 9. | 10 | 1 | Jacob Neal | 16 | 6998 | | 10. | 12 | 2 | Curtis Fox | 7 | 6738 | |
For the full ICC Driver Rankings, Click Here
 | Michael Vincec
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
ICC Rankings Report
With the current state of the national karting scene, the ICC rankings saw minimal changes with the lack of drivers participating in the top category in North American karting. That aside, it doesn’t take away the fact that Michael Vincec (Cameron Motorsports/SSC East) still remains as the top driver in the rankings. Former number one drivers Alex Speed (Wunder-Bar Racing/Tony Kart), Gary Carlton (PCH Motorsports/SSC East) and David Jurca (Italian Motors) fill out the top four as they remain unchanged. With the removal of April events from 2008, Fritz Leesmann (PSL Karting) jumped to fifth, moving Jordy Vorrath (Champion Racing/Intrepid USA) back to sixth. None of the top six recorded results since the last rankings release however Vincec, Speed, and Carlton are expected to race at the upcoming Championship Karting International series debut in two weeks.
Ron White (JWR/SSC East) was the only driver to record solid results since the last rankings by scoring the feature win at the Stars of Karting Grand Prix of Sonoma in April. White jumped over Cody Jolly (Cameron Motorsports/SSC East) - who had a tough Sonoma event and did not add to his point total. Jacob Neal (PCH Motorsports) continues to rack up race wins in the ProKart Challenge South program and moves up one spot to ninth while Curtis Fox (Cameron Motorsports) moves into the top-10 with the absence of Clayton Snow (Syar Motorsport).
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ICC #1 - Michael Vincec
Stouffville, Ontario, Canada
Point Breakdown
| Race | Rank | Finish | Points| Stars Race of the Americas 2008 #1 | 10 | 1 | 1171 | | Stars Race of the Americas 2008 #2 | 10 | 3 | 1148 | | Stars of Karting ’08 - East #5 - Shawano | 9 | 2 | 1045 | | Stars of Karting ’08 - East #6 - Shawano | 9 | 2 | 1045 | | Stars National Finals 2008 #1 | 10 | 3 | 1107 | | Stars National Finals 2008 #2 | 10 | 3 | 1107 | | SKUSA SuperNationals 2008 | 10 | 5 | 1087 | |
Inside the Stats
Average Finish: 2.71
Average Points: 1101.4
Total Points: 7710
TaG
TaG Driver Rankings Top-10
| Pos | Apr. 17 | Plus/Minus | Driver | Races | Score| 1. | 1 | NC | Kyle Wiegand | 14 | 7697 | | 2. | 2 | NC | Victor Cabrera Jr. | 7 | 7549 | | 3. | 3 | NC | Joey Wimsett | 16 | 7477 | | 4. | 5 | 1 | Chris Wehrheim | 14 | 7435 | | 5. | 6 | 1 | Scott Saunders | 13 | 7397 | | 6. | 4 | -2 | Chris Scribner | 10 | 7387 | | 7. | 7 | NC | Will Martindale | 22 | 7273 | | 8. | 8 | NC | Neil Alberico | 16 | 7159 | | 9. | 9 | NC | Jason Toft | 11 | 7133 | | 10. | 11 | 1 | David Sera | 8 | 7042 | |
For the full TaG Driver Rankings, Click Here
 | Kyle Wiegand
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
TaG Rankings Report
The TaG category continues to see growth across the continent from the club level to the national scene. Kyle Wiegand still holds the number one spot on the strength of his 2008 season. The ’09 start has not been good to the Team Top Kart USA driver however he should rebound nicely in the summer months. Defending Stars of Karting TaG national champion Victor Cabrera Jr. (J3 Competition) has been absent from North American karting with the exception of KF2 action at the Florida Winter Tour. The Puerto Rican is looking to make a return to the states however the date and location is not known. Joey Wimsett (Champion Racing/Intrepid) retains the third spot with no change in his total after running fourth at the Stars of Karting Grand Prix of Sonoma.
Chris Wehrheim (Team Top Kart USA) moved to fourth with a slight point increase following his two podium finishes at the recent WKA Manufacturer’s Cup Series South Bend event. Scott Saunders moved into the top-five with Chris Scribner (Kartel Motorsports) sliding down to sixth from fourth with the lose of results from April 2008. Will Martindale (Wunder-Bar Racing/Tony Kart) is among the leaders with races under his belt in the past 12 months with 22 - only Andrick Zeen (no. 15) has more at 27 - but remains seventh ahead of Neil Alberico (Kartel Motorsports) and Jason Toft (KLS Racing). The top-10 welcomes some international flavor with Aussie David Sera (BTK Motorsports/Arrow Racing Karts) jumping up to tenth with Pat Iannucci following off. In Sera’s eight appearances, he walked away with six victories.
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TaG #1 - Kyle Wiegand
Bargersville, Indiana
Point Breakdown
| Race | Rank | Finish | Points| Stars Race of the Americas 2008 #1 | 10 | 3 | 1132 | | Stars Race of the Americas 2008 #2 | 10 | 3 | 1132 | | Stars of Karting ’08 - East #6 - Shawano | 9 | 3 | 1019 | | WKA Man. Cup Series ’08 - New Castle #1 | 9 | 1 | 1034 | | Stars National Finals 2008 #1 | 10 | 2 | 1148 | | Stars National Finals 2008 #2 | 10 | 2 | 1148 | | SKUSA SuperNationals 2008 | 10 | 7 | 1084 | |
Inside the Stats
Average Finish: 3
Average Points: 1099.6
Total Points: 7697
Stock Moto
Stock Moto Driver Rankings Top-10
| Pos | Apr. 17 | Plus/Minus | Driver | Races | Score| 1. | 2 | 1 | Bobby Legate | 10 | 5875 | | 2. | 1 | -1 | Patrick Cushenberry | 11 | 5844 | | 3. | 4 | 1 | Tommy Thompson | 8 | 5836 | | 4. | 40 | 36 | Jacob Neal | 6 | 5817 | | 5. | 3 | -2 | Victor Carbone | 7 | 5782 | | 6. | 10 | 4 | Brad Dunford | 15 | 5724 | | 7. | 5 | -2 | Clinton Schoombee | 11 | 5686 | | 8. | 6 | -2 | Matt Paderta | 15 | 5679 | | 9. | 9 | NC | Matt Zeis | 7 | 5670 | | 10. | 33 | 23 | Jordon Musser | 7 | 5657 | |
For the full Stock Moto Driver Rankings, Click Here
 | Bobby Legate
(Photo: btkmotorsports.com) |
Stock Moto Rankings Report
It only took until the third release before the top position of the Stock Moto Driver Rankings would exchange hands as Bobby Legate assumes the place at the top of the standings, dropping initial number one driver Patrick Cushenberry to second. The two have produced similar results to begin the 2009 season with Cushenberry one spot above Legate in the ProKart Challenge South points. However, Legate was one position better at the 2008 SKUSA SuperNationals along with Cushenberry’s seventh place finish at the most recent PKC event puts Legate to the top.
Following the top two is another pair of PKC competitors and race winners - Tommy Thompson and Jacob Neal up from the 40th spot after last month’s rankings. Thompson took home the PKC North opener in Sonoma while Neal has racked up four victories in his last six S3 features. With the PKC West Coast Shootout this weekend at Buttonwillow, the winner of the S3 main event could decide the next Stock Moto number one driver.
Victor Carbone - the Florida Winter Tour Stock Moto champion - slides down to fifth in the order in front of PKC front runners Brad Dunford and Clinton Schoombee. Dunford moved up four spots in the standings thanks in part to his first podium of the 2009 season at the Qualcomm event. Midwest front runner and FWT runner-up Matt Paderta falls to spots to eighth with Central States Challenge defending champion Matt Zeis holding strong to ninth following his first win of 2009 season at their opener at Gateway International Raceway. Up 33 spots this month is former four-time Rotax Grand National champion Jordon Musser. The Texan earned double wins at the Southwest Regional Cup opener at MSR Houston after finishing second in the Stock Moto point standings last season.
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NEW Stock Moto #1 - Bobby Legate
Newport Beach, California
Point Breakdown
| Race | Rank | Finish | Points| ProKart Challenge South ’08 #5 | 9 | 1 | 933 | | SKUSA SuperNationals 2008 | 10 | 7 | 1034 | | ProKart Challenge South ’09 #1 | 9 | 2 | 989 | | ProKart Challenge South ’09 #2 | 9 | 6 | 948 | | ProKart Challenge South ’09 #3 | 9 | 3 | 978 | | ProKart Challenge South ’09 #4 | 9 | 2 | 993 | |
Inside the Stats
Average Finish: 3.5
Average Points: 979.17
Total Points: 5875
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 top seven finishes in ICC, Stock Moto (S3), and TaG to determine their overall current point total. With each new release, results posted from more than one year ago are discarded. To deliver this current ranking list, we tabulated the results of all the Snap-on Stars of Karting national events, as well as other regional programs. We have also included the results for the major one-off events such as the Rock Island Grand Prix, SKUSA King of the Streets, and the SKUSA SuperNationals.
Each race was 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 2009, the Stars of Karting Race of the Americas and National Finals, the SKUSA SuperNationals and the Rock Island Grand Prix are the only events to receive a score of 10 in their initial weighting. The Stars of Karting national series events draw a base ranking of nine (9), while the WKA Manufacturer’s Cup, Florida Winter Tour, and other regional program races were given a base ranking of nine (9) or eight (8). The EKN staff reserves the right to adjust the rankings of each event throughout the year.
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 (six for Stock Moto), we calculate each driver’s overall score and subsequent ranking. |
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