Jake French remains the driver to beat in the EKN Stock Honda Driver Rankings (Photo: EKN)

As we near the halfway point of the 2017 calendar year, many of the national, regional and local programs are well underway with their season. The events listed on the eKartingNews.com Stock Honda Driver Rankings powered by Bell Racing USA are at the halfway point for 2017, and the battle for the top position – along with the prize of a Bell Racing helmet for the driver who ends the season in the number one position – is heating up. With the Stock Honda program adjusted to best seven races, and the SKUSA Pro Tour expanding, it has opened up the door for more drivers to be in contention for the top position.

The #1 spot remains in the hands of Jake French, with the DKC / Sodi Kart driver improving his total following the SpringNationals by 11 points, adding more podium finishes to his credit. His lead however has shrunk down to just 21 points with the jump up the order by TB Kart USA driver AJ Myers, reaching the seven race mark with the two SpringNationals events added to his total. Myers leaped over Billy Musgrave (MRC / Aluminos), who remains third in the standings. Dropping out of the second and down out of the top-10 is SKUSA Pro Tour 2016 champion Daniel Formal. The new Champion Racing / Intrepid driver has suffered two disqualifications on the SKUSA Pro Tour this season, thus limiting his race total to just six over the last 12 months, sitting 22nd in the new Driver Rankings standings.

Holding firm in the fourth and fifth spots is S2 graduates Austin Wilkins and Hunter Pickett. The 2016 SKUSA Pro Tour S2 champion Wilkins (DKC / Sodi Kart) improved his score with his best finish of 2017 in Sonoma with a sixth place performance on Sunday. Pickett (Aluminos) also improved his score from the SpringNationals, adding another podium finish with a third-place result in Round Four.

Jumping up into the top-10 from 12th is Skyler Finley, the third DKC / Sodi Kart driver. Finley put himself on the podium for the first time in 2017 Sunday at the SpringNationals with a runner-up finish, certainly on the verge of earning that first SKUSA Pro Tour victory. Sabre Cook (Energy) dropped one spot to seventh with SpringNationals S2 winner Kyle Wick (RPG / CRG) improving up one position to eighth. Hunter Kelly (Italcorse) has moved up to ninth in his first season at the S1 Pro level. Rounding out the top-10 is Kolton Griffin (Pure Karting / Tony Kart), jumping back up thanks to holding more than seven races to his credit and placing third at last months LAKC Pro Show. Aside from Formal falling out of the top-10, Kol Bailey (LEM / Praga) fell to 13th after a rough SpringNationals in the S2 division.

Upcoming EKN Stock Honda Driver Rankings Schedule

Stock Moto #1 – Jake French
Sachse, Texas

(Photo: EKN)

Right now, there is no other driver that is more consistent in shifterkart racing in the United States than Jake French. Six straight podium finishes at the SKUSA Pro Tour level, including four for four in 2017, has the Dallas Karting Complex / Sodi Kart driver still at the top of the Driver Rankings. Finally earning his first SKUSA Pro Tour S1 victory at the WinterNationals, French has two runner-up finishes and a third-place finish to put himself at the top of the championship chase heading to the SummerNationals. Two more podium finishes in New Castle would better his score, thus it is easy to predict French could be at the top of the Driver Rankings heading into the SuperNationals this November. The question is, will he go to Vegas as the SKUSA Pro Tour champion?

Point Breakdown

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Stock Moto #2 – AJ Myers
Tampa, Florida

(Photo: EKN)

It began at the 2016 SKUSA Pro Tour SummerNationals. TB Kart USA driver AJ Myers made the journey from Florida with the kart loaded in the back of his father’s truck, and dominated the weekend for a breakout performance in the S1 division. That led to a runner-up at the SuperNationals and a podium at the inaugural WinterNationals. Now with seven races in Stock Honda under his belt over the last 12 months, Myers is sitting second in the EKN Driver Rankings, with the opportunity to take over the number one position. Despite Myers struggles in Sonoma, another two win performance in New Castle this August could boost him into the #1 spot.

Point Breakdown

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Stock Moto #3 – Billy Musgrave
Norco, California

(Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

Three straight years now, Billy Musgrave has won on the SKUSA Pro Tour in the S1 division. The three-time California ProKart Challenge champion earned his third career main event victory during the SpringNationals, his first aboard the Aluminos brand. The Rob Soares chassis design continues to show success at the SKUSA Pro Tour since it was introduced in 2013, now with Musgrave at the helm. The MRC driver has recorded three straight victories at the California PKC this season, looking to add his fourth championship in five years, making him one of the top shifterkart drivers of this generation. A winner at New Castle in 2016, Musgrave will be a factor at the SKUSA Pro Tour finale.

Point Breakdown

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Stock Moto ‘On the Move’ – #42
Mathias Ramirez
Bradenton, Florida

(Photo: EKN)

The top rookie in 2017 is Florida’s Mathias Ramirez. No stranger to the big stage as a former podium finisher at the Rotax Grand Finals, Ramirez is third in the SKUSA Pro Tour standings with three straight top-five results. The 2016 SKUSA SuperNationals S2 winner has made the transition to the headline division, showing the speed to race with the top drivers, just unable to reach the podium through the first two events. His short tenure with PSL Karting / Birel ART continues to develop, with Ramirez a shoe-in for title contention in the coming years. With only five events under his belt, Mathias is set to enter the top-10 of the EKN Driver Rankings following the SummerNationals.

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 Driver Rankings Powered by Bell Racing USA – Stock Honda – as of June 16, 2017

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