Ryan Norberg continues to hold the top spot in the TaG Driver Rankings (Photo: EKN)

In the penultimate release of the eKartingNews.com TaG Driver Rankings presented by Skip Barber Racing School for the 2024 season, the top challengers for the #1 position have been defined. Four major events have been added to the point total for the 267 drivers – Superkarts! USA Pro Tour SummerNationals, fourth round of the United States Pro Kart Series, US Trophy Final and the IAME USA Grand National Championship. Now six-time SKUSA Pro Tour champion Ryan Norberg (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) continues to show the way at the top of the standings.

Wins at two of three major events on the schedule for Norberg keeps him in the number one spot. The second and third positions have swapped with Austin Garrison (Speed Concepts Racing / CS55) up to second and Alessandro de Tullio (Inter MS / Kart Republic) back to third. Garrison trails by 107 points, not racing at the IAME USA Grand National Championship and same with de Tullio, who now trails by 141 points.

Holding onto the fourth position in the standings is Harley Keeble (Inter MS / Kart Republic). Improving his point total slightly with a P4 at the SummerNationals, Keeble remains in the hunt for a podium and even the top spot dependent on his final events of the year. Jumping up to the fifth spot from 13th is Hayden Jones (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic). The driver from North Carolina has only seven races counted over the last 12 months, including a victory at the USPKS finale last year and P5 at the SKUSA SummerNationals in July.

Improving two spots to sixth is Pauly Massimino (BJR/MDR / LN Racing Kart), coming off with two strong results. His runner-up at the USPKS Ohio GP was his best result of the season and finished fifth at the IAME USA Grand National Championship to improve his score and position. British driver Brandon Carr (Trinity Karting Group / Kart Republic) is down two spots to seventh, falling out of the top five. After placing ninth at the SummerNationals, Carr sat out the US Trophy Final with a rib injury but bounced back at the IAME race for a P7 result. Losing results from last year’s SummerNats accounted for his fall.

Also losing points and dropping two spots to eighth is Diego Ramos (PSL Karting / Birel ART). The Brazilian fell out of the championship for the SKUSA Pro Tour despite leading heading into the SummerNationals, placing seventh. He was in contention at the US Trophy Final until a mechanical took him out of the race. Holding onto ninth is Donovan Bonilla (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic), as the defending SKUSA SuperNationals winner improved his score with a sixth place performance at the SummerNationals.

Jumping into the top 10 for the first time is new IAME USA Grand National Championship winner Jakub Kolar (Vice Racing / Kart Republic). The Florida driver had not recorded a result since the SpringNationals where he was sixth, racing alongside Speed Concepts Racing. At Trackhouse, Kolar was able to escape the fight and come away with the big win over many of the top-25 drivers in the Driver Rankings to become the third different winner in the last three years.

Falling out of the top 10 was Cooper O’Clair (CompKart) – who ends up 12th after sitting 10th last edition while former IAME USA Grand National Championship winner Dalton Hanes falls from seventh to 11th, losing only 92 points after placing second at the US Trophy Final with Racelab / TB Kart.

Upcoming Events

TaG #1 – Ryan Norberg
Orlando, Florida

(Photo: Nate Dean – EKN)

Despite losing 25 points, the Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic driver remains at the top of the standings. Norberg lost two runner-up results from the SKUSA SummerNationals 2023 and replaced them with a win at New Castle and runner-up at Trackhouse for the IAME All-Star event. That along with the Shootout victory, he left with a nice $7,500. A chance still remains for a fourth straight USPKS title still remains with the goal of maximizing his points at New Castle at the end of the month.

Point Breakdown

**************************************

TaG #2 – Austin Garrison
Davie, Florida

(Photo: Nate Dean – EKN)

The difference now is 107 points as the Speed Concepts Racing / CS55 trails, moving up to second. Garrison improved by 30 points replacing his win at USPKS Wisconsin Grand Prix with a runner-up finish at the SKUSA SummerNationals. The problem is many of his results have Ryan Norberg ahead of him throughout the 2024 season. The USPKS championship leader goes into the finale, having past success at the New Castle Motorsports Park facility, but will need a victory to help him in the Driver Rankings.

Point Breakdown

**************************************

TaG #3 – Alessandro de Tullio
Miami, Florida

(Photo: Nate Dean – EKN)

Matching his average finish, the Inter MS / Kart Republic driver moves down to third after losing two results from SummerNats 2023. He replaces them with USPKS results, all in the third position. The only DNF of the season in USPKS competition came in Wisconsin when he lost his engine and collected Ryan Norberg in the process going to the checkered flag. He trails Austin Garrison by 190 points heading into the USPKS finale at the end of the month.

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 TaG Driver Rankings presented by Skip Barber Racing School – as of September 9, 2024

Share on Facebook

Tweet