The latest edition of the eKartingNews.com Driver Rankings shows very little change among the top drivers, but sets up for what could be some major changes in the coming months. All of the top-nine pilots remain in the same positions with no change to their point totals after a limited number of regional events took place since the last release of the standings on May 23. California driver Billy Musgrave remains the top driver, with eyes on strong results in the future to maintain that number one position.

Musgrave (MRC/Tony Kart) continues to lead the California ProKart Challenge with two wins, losing Round Four to veteran Ron White on his home turf in Sonoma. The SpringNationals were not the results the 2012 SuperNationals S2 winner had hoped for, posting an eighth and 12th place result in the main events and finds himself 12th in the championship chase. Two-time Pro Tour champion Fritz Leesmann (Aluminos) remains as the lead challenger in the standings. The NorCal driver was impressive in his Pro Tour debut on the Aluminos chassis, nearly driving to podium finishes both days.

Standing third as of this month is Utah driver Mike Beeny (MSquared Karting/Tony Kart). A solid weekend at last year’s SummerNationals as well as a strong season at the Utah Karting Championship has kept him near the top of the order. Beeny is planning on returning to the SummerNationals and the SuperNationals to close out the 2014 season, which could see the the recently married driver remain in the top-10. Looking to take over that spot is a pair of Christian’s. Christian Schureman (PSL Karting/CRG) and Christian Bird sit fourth and fifth, egger to advance their ranking. Neither performed their best at the SpringNationals, despite Schureman earning two podium results at the Texas ProKart Challenge the weekend prior. The S1 rookie however will need to match some good results with his S2 SummerNationals performance removed at the end of July. Bird, another Colorado native who calls Arizona home, has found a new home with the CRG West program working as a driver coach and S1 driver.

Arizona native Augie Lerch (Pure Karting/Tony Kart) is sixth in the order, looking to continue progression in his rookie S1 season. CRG-USA’s Sabré Cook is seventh, showing speed as a sophomore S1 driver at the SpringNationals, just running out of good luck. Fellow CRG-USA driver Jimmy McNeil (CRG) is running a limited schedule in 2014, and has flurted with the idea of returning back to the S4 category where he won the Pro Tour in 2011. Utah driver Tyler Bennett (MSquared Karting/Tony Kart) and S1 rookie Ryan Kinnear (Leading Edge Motorsports/Intrepid) make up the top-10 with the removal of the ‘Flyin Hawaiian’ Alec Gumpfer (CRG-USA) down to 12th.

Billy Musgrave
(Photo: Dromophotos.com)

Stock Moto #1 – Billy Musgrave
Norco, California

Musgrave continues to hold the top spot in the EKN Driver Rankings, but is soon to come under some challenge. The best result from this year’s SpringNationals was an eighth place finish. When the SummerNationals come along, he will need to match is two top-six results – including a runner-up finish if he hopes to remain as the top driver in Stock Moto. Musgrave, the 2013 California ProKart Challenge has two wins in the four races this season after winning the first five rounds a year ago. In just his second season in the S1 category, Musgrave will continue to improve his talent moving forward.

Point Breakdown

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Ron White
(Photo: Dromophotos.com)

Stock Moto ‘On the Move’ – #14
Ron White
San Jose, California

Now recording his sixth race in the last 12 months, veteran Ron White is making a bid toward the top-10 in the EKN Driver Standings. The 36-year old was winning races and championships before many of his fellow S1 competitors were lapping the track in kid karts. The 2002 SKI Driver of the Year, Rock Island King of the Streets winner, Stars of Tomorrow champion, and SKUSA SuperNationals SuperPro victor has always stepped in and been competitive no matter the track over the past decade. Possible his biggest victory came at the 2004 CIK-FIA European Championships as White won the ICC category in Sarno, Italy – racing for the CRG factory alongside current S4 driver Darren Elliott. There is no doubt White will be among the contenders at the upcoming SummerNationals in Modesto.

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 TaG and six in Stock Moto 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 included the results for the major one-off events such as the SKUSA SuperNationals, the US Rotax Max Challenge Grand Nationals, the Rock Island Grand Prix, the Lone Star Grand Prix and the Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix.

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 2014, the SKUSA SuperNationals and US Rotax Max Challenge Grand Nationals receive a score of 10 in their initial weighting in the TaG category while the SuperNationals is the lone event in the Stock Moto division. The SKUSA Pro Tour series events draw a base ranking of nine (9), as does the United States Pro Kart Series, Florida Winter Tour Rotax Max Challenge, Rotax Challenge of the Americas, Rotax Pan American Challenge. Other regional program races were given a base ranking of either 8.5 or 8.

The EKN staff reserves the right to adjust the rankings of each event throughout the year. A minimum entry total for any events 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 in TaG, six for Stock Moto, we calculate each driver’s overall score and subsequent ranking.

Stock Moto Driver Rankings – as of July 1, 2014

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