Kyle Wick earns 2023 EKN Driver of the Year (Photo: EKN)

The end to the 2023 eKartingNews.com Shifterkart Driver Rankings presented by Skip Barber Racing School is here with the final events on the calendar completed. Just over 200 drivers competed in 67 races over the last 12 months across the United States that were counted toward the 2023 ranking standings. An amazing year of racing produced an exciting race for this year’s Shifterkart Driver of the Year, which was earned by GFC Karting driver Kyle Wick.

The 2019 SKUSA Pro Tour and 2021 Challenge of the Americas champion put together one of his more successful seasons. In just 11 races, Wick secured the most points out of all shifterkarts drivers on the season to claim the #1 spot – highlighted by his ROK Vegas victory in October. He was able to stop two-time SKUSA Pro Tour champion Marijn Kremers (PSL Karting / Birel ART) from claiming a second straight Driver of the Year honor, as the two drivers finished just 18 points apart. A late charge thanks to his fourth SuperNationals victory put Daniel Formal (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) in the third spot to end the 2023 season. This is the tightest finish in the EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings since 2013 when Billy Musgrave edged out Fritz Leesmann by 12 points. The top-three in this year’s standings finishing within 100 points of each other.

A close fourth in the final standings is inaugural USPKS champion AJ Myers (Checkered Motorsports / Magik Kart USA). Myers was just over one hundred points out of the top spot, slipping out of the top-three by 13 points. A total of 165 points separated the top-five, including two-time Shifterkart Driver of the Year and fellow four-time SKUSA SuperNationals winner Billy Musgrave (Factory Karts).

Part of what made this year’s battle so close was the SKUSA Pro Tour championship chase. Kremers, Wick, Jacob Gulick (GFC Karting) and Musgrave all finished within seven points in a best five of six format. Kremers and Wick went winless, however, Gulick scored two wins and Musgrave one. Myers – who missed the SpringNationals – won both SummerNationals events that were the highest ranked events of the season outside of ROK Vegas and the SuperNationals based on strength of field and field size.

The defining moment of the 2023 season and the EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings came at the SKUSA Pro Tour SummerNationals Round Six main event on the final lap. Each position in a championship chase and the ranking standings equate to gained points, or lost points. Kremers was sitting second in the race at the white flag with Wick third and David Trefilov in fourth, making a one-off start. Wick was able to pass Kremers for second, and Trefilov passed through a few corners later. This put Wick second, Kremers fourth. While it was enough to give Kremers the title for the SKUSA Pro Tour, had he fought to finish second, the EKN Driver Rankings could have finished with Marijn on top once again.

For Myers, he finished the 2023 EKN Driver Rankings with a better average finish (2.0) for his best seven results then those who ended up in the top-three and had three wins to his credit – including only one of his two USPKS victories toward his final score. Aside from missing the SpringNationals, he also did not compete at the ROK Vegas event – which Wick, Kremers and Formal all competed at, and all finished on the podium. A fourth place at the SuperNationals also cost Myers valuable points, after starting on the pole position and leading early in the race. A second place on SuperSunday would have at least put Myers up to third in the year-end standings.

Finishing the year sixth is Hunter Pickett (PSL Karting / Birel ART), with a best point total coming from a fourth-place finish at the ROK Vegas. A 12th place finish at the SKUSA SuperNationals was his swan song with PSL, as he is slated for a return to GFC Karting in 2024. Dropping three spots to seventh is Jacob Gulick (GFC Karting). The two-time SKUSA Pro Tour race winner and Challenge of the Americas champion lost points, dropping a top-10 from ROK Vegas last year and suffered a DNF at this year’s event in addition ending up in the wall at SuperNationals 26.

The third GFC Karting driver inside the top-10 to close out 2023 is Keawn Tandon. Up two spots thanks to an 11th place result at the SuperNationals, Tandon tied Formal with least amount of Driver Rankings events at 10 over the 12 months. Tandon’s advance dropped Giorgio Carrara (Inter MS / Kart Republic) down one spot to ninth – recording a best point finish of sixth at the SKUSA SpringNationals. Down one spot to round out the top-10 is Tahlon Yockel (Checkered Motorsports / Magik Kart USA). It was another year of improvement for the 2023 Stars Championship Series title winner, recording his best point total twice by placing fifth in both finals at the SKUSA SummerNationals.

Shifterkart #1 – Kyle Wick
Auburn, Washington

(Photo: Cody Schindel – CKN)

Closing out a very competitive season, Kyle Wick has earned the EKN Shifterkart Driver of the Year for 2023. Just one point short of a second SKUSA Pro Tour title, Wick was able to secure three key victories on the season – two of which did not count in his best seven for the standings. Those two wins came in Wick’s only two starts at the USPKS program in 2023, winning at New Castle and taking the victory at Trackhouse. Add in the emotional victory at the ROK Vegas event, the GFC Karting driver entered the SuperNationals as a contender. A broken chain in the opening heat race put him 20th on the grid for SuperSunday. Wick charged forward in the 25-lap race, finishing sixth. Had Wick finished 8th or worse, the Driver of the Year title would not have swung his way.

Point Breakdown

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Shifterkart #2 – Marijn Kremers
Gemert, Netherlands

(Photo: EKN – Nate Dean)

What is now confirmed as his final season with PSL Karting / Birel ART, Kremers still goes out as one of the best. Just 18 points kept him from earning a second straight EKN Driver of the Year honor. The Dutch driver did earn a second straight SKUSA Pro Tour championship albeit without a victory. In fact, his only wins of the season came in the final two rounds of the Florida Winter Tour to claim the ROK Cup USA title. The SKUSA SuperNationals continues to be the one just out of reach for Kremers, finishing runner-up for a fourth time in five events. While his plans for the upcoming season are yet to be confirmed, our hope is he returns at least for the SuperNationals 27 to grab that elusive victory if not to contend for a third-straight SKUSA Pro Tour title – something that has never been done in the headline shifterkart division over the 14-year history of the program.

Point Breakdown

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Shifterkart #3 – Daniel Formal
Boca Raton, Florida

(Photo: EKN)

While his name was already in the history books, a record-tying fourth victory at the SKUSA SuperNationals solidified Formal as one of the most decorated karters in North America over the last 20 years. A five-time US Rotax Grand Nationals winner drove to a dominant victory on SuperSunday in the Pro Shifter category, proving the media and those in the paddock wrong. The Costa Rican competed in only 10 EKN Driver Ranking races over 2023, making them all count. Next to his SuperNationals triumph, the victory at the SKUSA Pro Tour opener was his strongest performance in addition to the inaugural Pro Shifter win at USPKS and runner-up at ROK Vegas. Formal will be busy with an IMSA WTRAndretti GTD ride for 2024, yet he is expected to be at the kart track still during his off weekends for a chance to add to his legacy.

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 2023, 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 Vegas, 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 December 20, 2023

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