(Photo: EKN)

The eKartingNews.com Driver Rankings presented by Skip Barber Racing School is into the final events of the 2022 season, with most of the major races in the books for the Shifterkart program. The SKUSA Pro Tour is complete, with the Rock Island Grand Prix and Stars Championship Series events remaining before the two big November races have an impact on those at the top of the standings, calculated by the events from the previous 12 months.

For the first time this year, we have a new order in the top-three of the Shifterkart Driver Rankings. The number one position remains in the hands of former SKUSA Pro Tour champion AJ Myers (Magik Kart USA), who goes into the closing stages of the season without a championship in hand after winning last year’s SKUSA title. Now into the second spot is Marijn Kremers (PSL / Birel ART), the driver who took the SKUSA crown away. Kremers has seven races to his credit in the EKN Driver Rankings, dating back to his runner-up at the SKUSA SuperNationals 24. He is now the top challenger, sitting 55 points out of the top spot with his three SKUSA Pro Tour victories in hand. Only 105 points back in third is former SKUSA Pro Tour champion Jake French (PSL / Birel ART). French remains winless on the 2022 season, but among the more consistent front runners over the last 12 months.

Falling out of the top-three after moving there last month is Kyle Wick (GFC / Trackmagic). The Washington driver lost points, 80 to be exact, to now be fourth. His two wins at Challenge of the Americas and victory at the SKUSA SpringNationals help to put him in the top-five. Holding fifth is the 2022 Challenge of the Americas champion Hunter Pickett, who lost points but maintained his position in the standings. The SummerNationals completed his second weekend with his new team, which puts three PSL Karting / Birel ART drivers inside the top-five.

Dropping down to sixth from fourth is three-time SKUSA SuperNationals winner Daniel Formal. Finding a new home with Rolison Performance Group back aboard the OTK brand, Formal did not have the SummerNationals event he had hoped. It was a good weekend in terms of finding out what they need to do going forward to prepare for SuperNationals 25. Down one spot to seventh is Jacob Gulick (GFC). Again, the second year shifterkart driver is finding the speed to be among the contenders, however, did not get the finishes he had hoped for at New Castle in July. While it was not a weekend of gaining points toward the EKN Driver Rankings, four-time SKUSA SuperNationals winner Billy Musgrave (Factory Kart) found himself on the podium for the first time in 2022. It was his first trip to the steps since the SpringNationals 2021, placing third in Sunday’s main event at the SummerNats. Musgrave dropped one spot to eighth in this month’s EKN Driver Rankings.

One of two drivers to sit inside the top-15 in both Shifterkart and TaG Driver Rankings is Hannah Greenemeier (RPG / LN Racing Kart). The 2021 SKUSA Pro Tour X30 Senior champion has made great strides in her shifterkart performance in 2022, placing top-five in her debut at the SpringNationals and came from the tail of the field to sixth both days at the SummerNationals. She holds in ninth despite improving her score. A solid performance by the lone female in the top-10 at SuperNationals 25 could move her up the standings even more. Completing the top-10 is veteran Ron White (RWR / CRG). It is expected to see the 2002 SuperNationals winner return in Las Vegas to celebrate his win 20 years ago. The only driver to drop out of the top-10 this month is Canadian Davide Greco (PSL / Birel ART), falling one spot to 11th.

The driver advancing the most positions into the top-50 is Canadian Joshua Conquer, who drove for GFC for the first time at the SKUSA SummerNationals. He broke into the top-10 on Sunday in his 2022 SKUSA debut. Conquer advanced 42 positions to now sit 18th, currently the Stars Championship Series point leader in ROK Shifter going into the third event of the season.

Upcoming EKN TaG Driver Rankings Schedule

Shifterkart #1 – AJ Myers
Tampa, Florida

(Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

While he will no longer carry the #1 plate in SKUSA competition, Myers remains the #1 in the EKN Driver Rankings. His two wins over the last four rounds of the SKUSA Pro Tour helped him to remain in the lead position as we look at closing out the 2022 season. The victory and runner-up at the SummerNationals helped to improve his score by 19 points. Myers is set to make his debut at the Rock Island Grand Prix to compete in the famed King of the Streets race. A big win there could add to the momentum he gained at New Castle to help take him into the final events of the 2022 season.

Point Breakdown

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Shifterkart #2 – Marijn Kremers
Gemert, Netherlands

(Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

It has been a few years since the EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings featured an international driver toward the top of the standings. The only year a driver not from the USA finished #1 to close out the season was in 2014 when British driver Jordon Lennox dominated the year in the Superkarts! USA Pro Tour competition, including a victory at the SuperNationals. A victory in Las Vegas has eluded Kremers over the last three editions, finishing runner-up all three times in Pro Shifter. With the Pro Tour championship now on the mantle, maybe the #201 plate will help him to gain that SuperNationals victory this November.

Point Breakdown

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Shifterkart #3 – Jake French
Rockwell, Texas

(Photo: Adrenaline Motorsports Media)

Consistent, that is the word to describe the career of Jake French in Shifterkart competition. Since his days in S5 Junior Stock Moto, French has been toward the front end of the field when it comes to six-speed competition. Heading into the SummerNationals, French was looking to close out the season with a victory as he did in 2021. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be as he went winless in the championship program. A run of five top-five results helped to put him third in the final SKUSA Pro Tour championship, landing on the podium for a third time since 2017 when he won the title. A podium at the SuperNationals will help but a win would further cement his name into the karting record books.

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 the TaG and Shifterkart categories 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 also included the results for the major one-off events such as the SKUSA SuperNationals, the Rock Island Grand Prix, and other special races.

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 2022, the SKUSA SuperNationals will receive a score of 10 in its initial weighting in the TaG and Shifterkart categories. A base ranking of 9.5 is set for the SKUSA Pro Tour, while a base ranking of 9 goes to the SKUSA Winter Series, United States Pro Kart Series, Florida Winter Tour, Challenge of the Americas, ROK the RIO, Rotax Grand Nationals, Rock Island Grand Prix, and California ProKart Challenge. Other national and regional program races were given a base ranking of either 8.5 or 8.0.

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

EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings presented by Skip Barber Racing School – as of August 26, 2022

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