Jarsocrak remains at the top of the EKN TaG Driver Rankings (Photo: EKN)

The 2015 season is nearing the end, and the final chances to move up in the EKN TaG Driver Rankings is diminishing. Every year, the standings chase ends with the running of the Superkarts! USA SuperNationals. Looking at the provisional entry list, already 20 of the top-50 drivers from this month’s standings are scheduled to compete in ‘Sin City’ at the new location for the event – the Las Vegas Convention Center. Standings leader Brandon Jarsocrak has a large enough lead that he could maintain enough of a gap to finish as the #1 driver, or one of the top-five could trump him with a winning performance on SuperSunday.

Jarsocrak (Tony Kart) continues to lead the way in the standings, using results from 2015. The SKUSA Fikse Wheels Pro Tour point leader lost 10 points in the standings, but remains out front by 148 points. Newly-crowned United States Pro Kart Series champion Elliot Finlayson (Tony Kart) elevated to the second position in the standings thanks to a double-podium finish to his championship run. Jumping up one position to third is former US Rotax Grand Nationals champion Oliver Askew (BirelART), sitting as the current US Open point leader and among the drivers in contention for the SKUSA Pro Tour championship.

Last year’s EKN TaG Driver Rankings #1 driver Jake Craig and Andrick Zeen each move up three positions this month. Craig (Formula K) ran third at the US Rotax Grand Nationals, unable to defend his 2014 title but advanced back up the driver standings and remains in the SKUSA Pro Tour championship chase. Zeen doubled up in his Praga North America entry at the USPKS finale, helping him to reach the top-five in the EKN standings.

Dropping down the order is last year’s USPKS champion AJ Myers. The Florida driver has spent the majority of the season in Europe, racing with the PCR factory team. His lose of the 2014 USPKS results to his total helped him in the fall of the standings. Mason Marotta (BirelART) jumped two positions to seventh, banking on his sixth place result at the US Rotax Grand Nationals.

Kyle Kirkwood and Ryan Norberg advanced up seven positions each, placing eighth and ninth. It has been a solid 2015 for Kirkwood, as the Ocala Gran Prix driver won the Florida Winter Tour Rotax championship, and this August added a US Rotax Grand Nationals title to his credit. Norberg (PCR) is the top Senior rookie in the EKN Driver Rankings, thanks to his efforts at the USPKS and placing fifth at the US Rotax Grand Nationals.

Christian Brooks has had a phenomenal 2015 season, falling to tenth in the standings without a change in his point total. Brooks drove to the vice-champion position at the Challenge of the Americas program this winter, recently locked up the California ProKart Challenge title, and sits second in the US Open championship chase. Brenden Baker, despite winning the Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix, along with Dustin Stross have fallen out of the top-10.

Upcoming EKN TaG Driver Rankings Events

Brandon Jarsocrak (Photo: EKN)

TaG #1 – Brandon Jarsocrak
Shillington, Pennsylvania

A prime example of what a father/son duo can do at the top level of the sport is that of Eddie and Brandon Jarsocrak. The two have climbed the karting ladder together, forged from the local level to regional racing, before finding success on the national scene the last three years. 2015 is Brandon’s best in TaG competition, nearly earning the USPKS title, but remains the driver to beat at the SKUSA Fikse Wheels Pro Tour. All that remains is the one event that has haunted ‘Money’ the last few years – the SuperNationals. Maybe the move to a new facility and banking on the fact that he has a guaranteed starting spot on SuperSunday, it could be time to cash in this Vegas trip.

Point Breakdown

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Elliot Finlayson (Photo: EKN)

TaG #2 – Elliot Finlayson
Yorkville, Illinois

Your 2015 United States Pro Kart Series champion is Elliot Finlayson. The Koene USA driver ripped off a string of results from June in Shawano to MRP and New Castle in August to land himself at the top of the championship podium. Alongside Elliot has been his father Robert, grinding away every weekend toward the title. The 19-year-old is missing one thing to make the season a true success, a victory. In the 17 EKN Driver Rankings events he has competed in, Finlayson has yet to reach the checkered flag first. Capping the year off with a victory at the SuperNationals will not only put him in the record books for life, but make this a season not to forget.

Point Breakdown

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Oliver Askew (Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

TaG #3 – Oliver Askew
Jupiter, Florida

Among the top drivers in the United States karting is Oliver Askew. Both in TaG and shifterkart competition, the Florida driver has produced the results displayed the natural talent to be ranked alongside the select few that stand out. After a vice-champion performance at the Florida Winter Tour, debuting aboard the BirelART chassis after many years on the Tony Kart. Askew kicked off the SKUSA Fikse Wheels Pro Tour with a win at the SpringNats, putting him in contention for the title heading into the finale next month. The majority of his summer was spent overseas, racing in Europe at the Rotax Max Challenge series and other selected events. Now, Askew is sampling open wheel racing in Asia, competing in the Formula Masters China Series, for the end of 2015. He remains however focused on two tasks at hand, the US Open finale and the SuperNationals XIX.

Point Breakdown

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Jake Donald with RoboPong 200 co-winner Brandon Jones (Photo: EKN)

TaG ‘On the Move’ – #25
Jake Donald
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Racing on a limited schedule as he focuses his efforts toward earning a business degree in college, Jake Donald has not been seen at the top EKN Driver Rankings but continues to be among the contenders at the events he attends. In 2013, he ran in 11 Driver Rankings main events, and dropped to just six last year, all at the USPKS program and finished 77th in the rankings. The KartSport North America driver started the year out strong at the team’s home track aboard the Praga chassis, but then struggled in his final four races at the USPKS program. It was a complete 180 turnaround when they switched frame models for the RoboPong 200 at New Castle. Donald drove 149 of the 200 laps to earn his second victory at the famed event.

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, 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 2015, 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. Other national and 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 – as of October 2, 2015

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