Jake Craig finishes 2014 as the top pilot in the EKN TaG Driver Rankings (Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca)

2014 is the eighth year of the eKartingNews.com TaG Driver Rankings, with now eight different drivers finishing the season at the top of the standings. Twelve months of racing across the nation, pitting the best of the best against one another in SKUSA, Rotax, USPKS, WKA and other events focused around the Touch and Go engine program. The Superkarts! USA can be the turning point of the season, and the decider for the top driver in the program. This year, however, the SuperSunday results had no effect on the top spot with Jake Craig completing the year as the #1 driver.

Craig (2Wild Karting / Tony Kart) had a very successful 2014, winning at nearly every major program in the country. The year began at the Rotax Challenge of the Americas, losing the title by just five points after winning three times in six races. He opened up the SKUSA Pro Tour with two victories at the Dallas Karting Complex for the SpringNationals. He followed it up with four wins in seven races at the Rotax Can-Am ProKart Challenge (not part of the EKN Driver Rankings) to clinch a ticket to the 2014 Rotax Grand Finals. It was his second ticket won in just a month’s time, as just a few weeks prior to clinching the series championship, Craig drove to victory at the Cold Stone US Grand Nationals. It was the first Rotax national crown for the SoCal driver. Craig went to the SuperNationals XVIII leading in the SKUSA Pro Tour standings, and thanks to the points earned in the heat races including the top qualifier bonus points, Jake locked up the championship before SuperSunday. He went just two corners before contact spun him out at the second turn of the main event, classifying him 38th.

The #1 spot was locked up as well, with second and third place drivers not racing in the TaG Senior division and unable to eclipse the mark set by Craig. Second place driver AJ Myers was too busy finishing as the top American in the KZ2 category. The Florida driver – in his class debut – was the first American to stand on the KZ2/SuperPro podium at the SuperNationals since 2008 – posing with the likes of de Conto, Thonon, Lammers and five-time world karting champion Fore. This was all after a championship season in TaG racing. Myers, alongside his father Mike, put together a title run in the United States Pro Kart Series under the Checkered Motorsports / PCR USA tent. He added a second title to his credit in 2014, securing the Rok Cup USA championship in the shifter category, and raced at the Rok Cup International Final at South Garda Karting in Italy. Myers could be the next dual threat – similar to that of Neri and Askew as we saw this year in Stock Moto.

This past season was not what Kyle Kalish expected coming off a championship year in 2013. It was not necessarily a sophomore slump, competing in his second season as a Senior level driver. The 2013 USPKS Leopard Pro champion focused on defending his title, but came up just short with Myers besting him in the eight race program. A victory eluded him throughout the season, but the Franklin Motorsports / Merlin driver remained within striking distance to earn the vice-championship and finish the year third in the EKN Driver Rankings.

Fourth is the top rookie of 2014, Blaine Rocha. A champion in the Junior ranks, the NorCal driver continued to make the progression into Senior competition throughout the year. The marquee result of the season came at the SKUSA SummerNationals, becoming a hometown hero with victory under the lights in Modesto, California. The grit and determination is astonishing in the 16-year-old, competing at the Cold Stone US Grand Nationals with a terrible illness that required IV fluids in the mornings. The Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic driver pushed to finish fifth in the main event. A great finish to the season included double-duty at the SKUSA SuperNationals, racing a late model car at the Las Vegas Bullring in the late hours, and racing in the competitive TaG Senior group outside the Rio. Rocha started SuperSunday in 22nd and drove to a seventh place performance to move him up to fourth in the final EKN Driver Rankings for 2014.

Dustin Stross won the award for the most races competed in during the 2014 season toward the EKN Driver Rankings – at 35 main events in 12 months. Stross – a Tony Kart privateer – drove in nearly every series – from WKA, SKUSA, USPKS, Rotax, and many others – on the road nearly each and every weekend. Stross was unable to finish the SuperSunday feature, hurting his point total and finishing the year in fifth.

Last year’s #1 driver Louie Pagano ended the season sixth. The relationship with Dallas Karting Complex / Sodi Kart USA also ended, with the SuperNationals as the swan song for the relationship that dated back to July 2013. Pagano finished vice-champion once again in the SKUSA Pro Tour, along with the Rotax Challenge of the Americas program in the winter months. Plans for 2015 are forthcoming, with the idea of joining the same 2Wild Karting program that supported Craig in 2014 a possibility.

The next highest rookie in 2014 is Florida’s Kyle Kirkwood. There has never been a question on the speed Kirkwood possesses, it has always been about avoiding trouble. Much like his predecessors at the Ocala Gran Prix stable, Kirkwood’s Florida Winter Tour campaign as a Senior rookie was solid, placing second behind his teammate Askew in the final standings. Kirkwood was in contention at the US Grand Nationals, until contact on the final lap ended his shot at a possible Rotax Grand Finals ticket, placing ninth. Contact once again took Kirkwood out of contention at the Rotax Pan American Challenge during the final heat race, with a brake issue in the Prefinal while leading forced him to retire after three laps. A stellar drive to sixth against an international field kept him short of a Rotax Grand Finals ticket, but helped his cause in the EKN Driver Rankings.

Michigan driver Derek Dignan finished 2014 one spot lower than last season, ending up eighth. The KartSport North America / FA Kart pilot raced in 42 main events last season, placing seventh in the EKN Driver Rankings. This year, a limited schedule that included just 14 toward the rankings program, put him eighth. Dignan finished fourth in the USPKS championship standings with three podium finishes in eight races. His KSNA counterpart Roger Ralston Jr. was just 20 points off in ninth. The year began strong for the Florida driver, sweeping the opening weekend of the USPKS, with some good and bad performances here and there in Rotax, SKUSA and WKA competition. Veteran Mike Giessen rounds out this year’s top-10, coming on late in the season with strong results at the USPKS. Giessen partnered up with Mike Doty Racing to pilot a Deadly Kart, giving the Aussie chassis its first two major victories in the United States with a double win weekend in Pittsburgh.

The only driver to not finish inside the top-10 that was there just a few months ago is Oliver Askew. The Ocala Gran Prix / Tony Kart driver fell out of the top-10 after losing his Rotax Pan American Challenge victory from last year, only recording the six races from the championship performance at the Florida Winter Tour.

TaG #1 – Jake Craig
Mission Viejo, California

Jake Craig (Photo: Ken Johnson – Studio52.us)

Ending the 2013 season in the third spot, Craig put in a phenomenal 2014 to finish on top of the EKN Driver Rankings. Three major championships in one season is something not common, and Craig performed at the top of his game at every event he attended. It was a great 12 months for Craig and 2Wild Karting, with the relationship coming to an end after just one season. The SKUSA Pro Tour, US Rotax Grand Nationals winner and Can-Am champion is moving to Formula K and RaceLab for 2015. The deal makes him an official factory driver, which includes racing in Europe while building the chassis brand here in North America.

Point Breakdown

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TaG #2 – AJ Myers
Tampa, Florida

AJ Myers

The dark horse of 2014 is certainly AJ Myers. In 2013, he showed up near the top of the results in Rotax competition, but never really was able to shine. This year, climbed to the top of the United States Pro Kart Series to claim the championship. His win in South Bend propelled him into the next event as the top driver, finishing runner-up twice behind veteran Mike Giessen in Pittsburgh. Another win at New Castle locked up the title and his performance at the SuperNationals in the KZ2 category certainly raised the attention level. He is currently working on securing a spot on the PCR factory team in Europe, so his 2015 plans are still up in the air.

Point Breakdown

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TaG #3 – Kyle Kalish
Wauconda, Illinois

Kyle Kalish (Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

Defending a championship is a tough task to complete. Franklin Motorsports / Merlin driver Kyle Kalish put in 100% effort throughout the year alongside his father Scott. A loose airbox at the USPKS opener in Mooresville cost him a victory, and the season just continued to present hurdles and obstacles in front of him. The 18-year-old’s SKUSA Pro Tour debut included two seventh-place results at the SpringNationals while suffering an injury to his ribs. His plans for 2015 include a move to the Stock Moto category, making his debut at the upcoming Daytona KartWeek for the Manufacturers Cup Series 2015 opener, remaining on the Merlin chassis as he did throughout his previous 10 seasons.

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.

TaG Driver Rankings – 2014 Final Standings

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