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| eKartingNews.com Driver Rankings - 2007 Final Standings |
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With the SKUSA SuperNationals XI behind us, the 2007 is complete on the national and regional circuits across North America. With the end comes the final EKN Driver Rankings of the 2007 season. The ICA was completed for 2007 following the Stars of Karting National Final in October so only ICC and TaG drivers had a chance to advance in the final month of the year.
As was the case last month, the three reigning national champions - Gary Carlton, Scott Jenkins, and Devon Sandeen complete the year on top of the ICC, ICA and TaG divisions representing three different countries - United States, Great Britain, and Canada.
Before beginning the 2008 edition of the EKN Driver Rankings, we’ll look at the schedules for the new season to adjust what races will be counted on the schedule and at what ranking along with a format change for TaG.
 | Two-time defending ICC National Champion Gary Carlton
(Photo: EKN) |
ICC
For ICC Rankings, Click Here
In November, reigning ICC National Champion Gary Carlton welcomed some of the world’s best drivers on his home soil at the SKUSA SuperNationals to battle for the $10,000 first place prize. Carlton was able to best all but one, reigning World Champion Marco Ardigo. Not the result he was looking for, it was still a sensational year for the Californian who traveled the globe to compete in 2007. Carlton has stated before that he has no need or desire to advance up the motorsports ladder, so he will remain king of the hill in North America until someone is able to knock him down.
Retiring early in the main event after starting 12th, Fritz Leesmann was unable to gain any ground on Carlton’s rankings advantage, keeping his same point total from the previous release. The fellow CRG driver ran second to Carlton for most of the 2007 season, looking to earn his first national victories. Leesmann has also added some frequent flyer miles to his docket, competing in the IAME International Challenge and the Granja Viana 500 at the end of November.
Moving up to third, despite not attending the event was Canadian Michael Vincec. The Cameron Motorsports driver was awarded the Sunoco Team Ultra 94 prize to compete in the Skip Barber Southern Region race series, which was competing the same weekend at Road Atlanta, picking up two podium finishes. Team Top Kart USA pilot Matt Jaskol dropped to fourth in the rankings while FirstKart.com’s Alan Rudolph moved into the top five to end the year, moving David Jurca (Italian Motors USA-Italkart) to sixth.
ICC #1 - Gary Carlton
Marysville, CA
Point Breakdown
| Race | Rank | Finish | Points| Stars Race of the Americas 2007 #1 | 10 | 1 | 1182 | | Stars Race of the Americas 2007 #2 | 10 | 1 | 1182 | | Stars of Karting ’07 - East #3 - New Castle | 9 | 1 | 1067 | | Stars of Karting ’07 - East #4 - New Castle | 9 | 1 | 1068 | | Stars National Finals 2007 #1 | 10 | 3 | 1133 | | Stars National Finals 2007 #2 | 10 | 1 | 1156 | | SKUSA SuperNationals 2007 | 10 | 2 | 1139 | |
Inside the Stats
Average Finish: 1.42
Average Points: 1132.3
Total Points: 7926
 | New ICA National Champion Scott Jenkins
(Photo: EKN) |
ICA
For ICA Rankings, Click Here
As stated earlier, the ICA division was set for the remainder of the 2007 season with the Stars National Finals as the final event on the rankings calendar. ICA National Champion Scott Jenkins earned the top honor of the Driver Rankings with a dominate year with four straight wins, a total of five on the year with a near perfect record. With Jenkins moving up the motorsports ladder to open wheel cars, the number one spot should be open after April when his two wins from the Race of the Americas will be removed. Until then, ICA drivers will battle for the second spot, held currently by PSL Karting’s Jake Rosenzweig when the Florida Winter Tour starts up in January.
ICA #1 - Scott Jenkins
Winterbourne Down, Bristol, England
Point Breakdown
| Race | Rank | Finish | Points| Stars Race of the Americas 2007 #1 | 10 | 1 | 1142 | | Stars Race of the Americas 2007 #2 | 10 | 1 | 1142 | | Stars of Karting ’07 - East #3 - New Castle | 10 | 1 | 1054 | | Stars of Karting ’07 - East #4 - New Castle | 10 | 1 | 1054 | | Stars National Finals 2007 #2 | 10 | 1 | 1147 | |
Inside the Stats
Average Finish: 1
Average Points: 1107.8
Total Points: 5539
 | New Stars Spec Racer National Champion Devon Sandeen
(Photo: EKN) |
TaG
For TaG Rankings, Click Here
The top ten in the EKN TaG Driver Rankings stayed nearly the same from the previous release with the exception of a few drivers shuffling around in the top five. Stars Spec Racer National Champion and EKN TaG Driver Rankings #1 pilot Devon Sandeen (Checkered Flag Racing) did not improve on his score at the SKUSA SuperNationals but remained a top the standings to close out 2007.
Second place Conor Daly (Team Top Kart USA) finished sixth in Vegas to improve his score, however it was not enough has he ends the year 58 points out. Daly however did record the most races toward the Driver Rankings, running Stars of Karting, WKA, and other events on the year for a staggering 23 races. Former third place Jason Toft (MRP-Birel America) was absent from the SuperNats and dropped to fifth, allowing Chris Scribner (Scribner Plastics) and Joey Licata Jr. (TNR Motorsports) each to move up one spot within the top five.
TaG #1 - Devon Sandeen
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Point Breakdown
| Race | Rank | Finish | Points| Stars Race of the Americas 2007 #1 | 10 | 5 | 1076 | | Stars Race of the Americas 2007 #2 | 10 | 4 | 1087 | | Stars of Karting ’07 - West #6 - Moran | 9 | 1 | 1038 | | Stars National Finals 2007 #1 | 10 | 2 | 1130 | | Stars National Finals 2007 #2 | 10 | 1 | 1141 | |
Inside the Stats
Average Finish: 2.6
Average Points: 1094.4
Total Points: 5472
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 to determine their overall current point total. The top five as used for ICA and TaG due to the lower number of available events. 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, the SKUSA SuperNationals, the KartSport Grand Prix and the Greeley Grand Prix.
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 2007, 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. For the ICC, ICA and TaG divisions, 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 eight (8). For the TaG, most of the events have a base ranking of nine (9). The EKN staff reserves the right to adjust the rankings of each event, and at the end of the year for the 2008 season.
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 (top 25 for ICA and TaG) 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 for ICC and the best five for ICA and TaG, we calculate each driver’s overall score and subsequent ranking. |
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