Billy Musgrave (Photo: EKN)

The eKartingNews.com Driver Rankings is beginning to adjust for the new season, removing the beginning races from last year. The transition in the 12-month period in which events are counted toward the best six races for each driver in the Stock Moto category are shuffling up the order toward the top of the standings. As of now, there is no question as to who is the top driver – with Billy Musgrave extending his lead as we close out the month of May.

Musgrave’s victory at the SpringNationals gave him his second SKUSA Pro Tour victory over the past 10 months, keeping him at the top of the Stock Moto Driver Rankings. Musgrave (MRC / Praga) has put himself in contention for the Pro Tour title, in addition to the California ProKart Challenge championship which resumes this weekend in Sonoma. Jumping ahead to the second spot is Arizona driver Kolton Griffin. The top rookie in S1 last year, the Pure Karting / Tony Kart driver is among the top shifterkart pilots in North America.

Dropping to third is Fritz Leesmann, who we saw in Phoenix turning wrenches instead of piloting a six-speed machine. Ron White is another driver that fell one spot, and will continue throughout the season as he focuses on building his race team in NorCal.

This opens the door for new and familiar names to come up to challenge Musgrave as a top driver. Jake French has done his part through the beginning of 2016. The Dallas Karting Complex / SodiKart driver won the Challenge of the Americas title in the winter, and sits third in the SKUSA Pro Tour standings behind race winners Daniel Bray and Musgrave. The SpringNationals was the first podium finish in the S1 category in his five year history in the Pro division, overcoming a wreck in the opening heat race to drive a repaired kart to third Sunday evening.

Jarred Campbell is no stranger to the top-10 of the EKN Driver Rankings, moving up after his S2 debut season and continuing a run at the top following his rookie S1 year in 2015 as California ProKart Challenge title winner. Now back on the Intrepid colors with Champion Racing, Campbell is gearing for the second half of the California PKC championship chase.

The top S2 pilot in the EKN Driver Rankings is now Austin Wilkins. Victory at the SpringNationals has propelled him to the seventh position in the standings, becoming the second Dallas Karting Complex / SodiKart driver inside the top-10. Wilkins came on late in 2015, emerging as one of the quick drivers at the SuperNationals. When conditions became tough for the main event Saturday in Phoenix, Wilkins stood out and drove away to the big victory.

Jacob Neal has moved back into the top-10, racing a full season with VRP and Diego Valverde. Neal (Tony Kart) is fourth in the California PKC standings heading to his new home track of Sonoma. Defending S2 Pro Tour champion Carter Williams (Phil Giebler Racing / Ricciardo) has dropped four positions to ninth. Losing the strong performances from a year ago in that category, the Californian was unable to replace them in his Pro Tour debut in S1. Rounding out the top-10 is the second S2 driver Hunter Pickett (Aluminos). The SpringNationals began rough for the California driver, involved in the morning warm-up incident that injured driver Kyle Smith and assistant race director Scott Clark. Miguel Lopez (GP), Marco Eakins (Formula K) and Luke Shanahan (Tony Kart) dropped out of the top-10.

Upcoming EKN Stock Moto Driver Rankings Events

(Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

Stock Moto #1 – Billy Musgrave
Norco, California

It has been a busy first five months of the season for Billy Musgrave as the MRC / Praga driver is pulling double duty. The #1 EKN Driver Rankings pilot remains as the driver to beat in the Stock Moto division, while etching his name in the chase for the top spot in the TaG category performing double duty in 2016. Musgrave is the lone driver to have multiple victories in the last five Pro Tour races, dating back to his first ever at the 2015 SummerNationals. In those five main events, Musgrave has two wins and three fourth-place finishes. Those results without a doubt make him the top shifterkart driver in North America today.

Point Breakdown

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(Photo: SeanBuur.com)

Stock Moto #2 – Kolton Griffin
Phoenix, Arizona

The first S1 victory is just around the corner for Kolton Griffin. The 2016 Challenge of the Americas vice-champion landed two wins this winter, helping to boost his confidence coming off a solid rookie season in 2015. Three top-five finishes in four starts on the Pro Tour help the stats for the Pure Karting / Tony Kart driver, who also earned his first SKUSA S1 podium finish at last year’s SummerNationals. Griffin’s score would be even higher, had he competed at the SuperNationals 2015 last November. Two more podium finishes this July in New Castle will be needed to help close the gap to Musgrave.

Point Breakdown

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Stock Moto #3 – Fritz Leesmann
Folsom, California

It is very odd to see one of the best shifterkart pilots the United States has produced on the sideline. Fritz is turning wrenched for the next generation of stars, instead of piloting a six-speed machine. Next to Gary Carlton, Leesmann is among the best in the last decade of karting here in North America. A two-time SKUSA Pro Tour champion, two-time Challenge of the Americas DD2 title winner, multi-time race winner and Team USA member in 2012-2013. I have no doubt we will see him behind the wheel sometime, as the SuperNationals victory is still the only void on his CV.

Point Breakdown

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(Photo: EKN)

Stock Moto ‘On the Move’ – #33
Rory van der Steur
Chesapeake City, Maryland

There is not much talk about karting in the state of Maryland. Rory van der Steur is attempting to change that, as this month’s ‘On the Move’. Rory has been traveling from the east coast to the west coast, competing in the California ProKart Challenge events in the S2 Semi-Pro division. A string of top-10 results led to a victory at the opening event of The F-Series held at GoPro Motorplex, beating out a 27-driver field that included S1 drivers Robert Bujdoso and Josh Lane. The 16-year-old recorded a best finish of seventh at his SKUSA Pro Tour S2 debut.

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 2016, the SKUSA Pro Tour 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. A base ranking of nine (9) goes to the United States Pro Kart Series, Florida Winter Tour Rotax Max Challenge, Challenge of the Americas, Rock Island Grand Prix and California ProKart Challenge. 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.

EKN Stock Moto Driver Rankings – as of May 27, 2016

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