AJ Myers assumes the top position in the EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings (Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca)

If there was one event that was penciled in on making a big impact to the eKartingNews.com Shifterkart Driver Rankings presented by Stilo USA, it was the SKUSA SummerNationals. The finale weekend to the Superkarts! USA Pro Tour at the end of July served up everything we thought it would be, with exciting action all weekend, providing a third different winner on the season in three rounds of competition and a championship that went down to the wire. For the EKN standings that features a collection of results over the past 12 month period, it was a big shakeup as drivers lost results from the 2024 edition and replaced them with new results. The most current calculation welcomes Magik Kart USA driver AJ Myers to the top of the standings for the first time in 2025, becoming the third different driver to hold the position this year.

It is a close battle at the top of the order that will come down to SKUSA SuperNationals 28 deciding the 2025 EKN Driver of the Year with four drivers sitting within 73 points. The ‘Magik Man’ Myers moves up from fourth last month to the top position, improving his score with a fourth place result at the SummerNationals. He jumps ahead of former #1 drivers Billy Musgrave (Factory Karts) and Matheus Morgatto (PSL Karting / Birelart), both of which lost points from last month’s score. The advancement of Myers also dropped Kyle Wick (GFC Karting) to fourth despite a slight score improvement for the SummerNationals runner-up result.

Now in the top five is SKUSA WinterNationals winner Gavin Bayliff (TKG Birelart USA). The driver from Ohio improved his score with a solid drive to sixth at the SummerNationals, including fast lap of the race. His three podium results at the SKUSA Winter Series helps to boost his score in 2025. He replaces Michael Avansino (Ron White Racing / CRG) who is now sixth in the standings. The 2025 Challenge of the Americas champion saw his score fall slightly after ending up 11th at the SummerNationals after recording a top 10 finish last year.

Two drivers each moved up one position this month – Justin White (Maranello USA) and Jacob Gulick (GFC Karting). White was 19th at the SummerNationals, losing points from last month as did Gulick, who put three GFC karts in the top 10 at New Castle with a 10th place finish.

Improving five positions is Charlie Stines (Factory Fury / GP Kart), moving into the top 10 for the first time ever. The top qualifier at the WinterNationals, Stines recorded three top 10 results over the three rounds of the SKUSA Pro Tour, including 9th at the SummerNationals. Stines finished in the same spot in the final SKUSA championship standings. Vincenzo Sarracino (Presti Racing / Croc Promotion) returns to the top 10 for the month of August. The Florida driver improved his score off a third-place podium result at the Stars Championship Series event in Ohio, moving up three positions to 10th. He recorded his best result of the SKUSA season at the SummerNationals with a 13th place finish.

Two drivers dropped out of the top 10. Kiwi driver Jay Urwin (PSL Karting / Birelart) went into the SummerNationals leading the SKUSA Pro Tour championships, only to suffer a DNF early to end his title hopes. The result equated with a drop in the EKN Driver Rankings, falling to 13th. Also out of the top 10 is Hunter Pickett (GFC Karting). The California veteran was 12th at the SummerNationals in his only non-DNF result over the three rounds of the SKUSA Pro Tour. Pickett lost only one position, sitting in 11th.

Upcoming Events

Shifterkart #1 – AJ Myers
Mount Ulla, North Carolina

(Photo: EKN)

The three-time EKN Shifterkart Driver of the Year is back into the #1 position, making him the third different driver to hold the spot in 2025. The 2025 SKUSA Pro Tour vice-champion saw his championship hopes diminish while leading the Prefinal at the SummerNationals, retiring early with a mechanical. He stormed from 11th to finish fourth in the Final, his best result of the three rounds but 50 points short of the championship. The P4 result did replace his DNF from the 2024 SummerNationals, due to contact with Matheus Morgatto. While Myers has the best score over the 12-month period, he has only one win which came at the Stars Championship Series finale at Trackhouse last September. Of the top four drivers, Myers has the best SuperNationals 27 result, placing on the podium in fifth.

Point Breakdown

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Shifterkart #2 – Billy Musgrave
Norco, California

(Photo: EKN)

It was 10 years in the making for Billy Musgrave at the SKUSA SummerNationals. His first SKUSA Pro Tour victory came in 2015 at New Castle Motorsports Park, and he had to wait 10 seasons before locking in his first career SKUSA Pro Tour championship, earning the crown at this year’s event. The godfather of Factory Karts became the third driver to win the title without a victory, recording finishes of second, eighth and seventh. The cost of earning the title was the loss of the #1 spot in the EKN Driver Rankings. His score nearly fell 100 points after losing wins at 2024 Stars MCC and 2024 SummerNationals from his score. Four of his best seven scores over the last 12 months are from last year. It could see him fall further down the standings when those results are wiped away from his total.

Point Breakdown

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Shifterkart #3 – Matheus Morgatto
Brazil

(Photo: EKN)

The 2024 SKUSA Pro Tour champion started the season leading the EKN Driver Rankings. Last month, the Brazilian moved out of the top spot to second. And this month, the PSL Karting driver finds himself in third. The three results that helped him gain the title last year are now removed from the 12 month standings calculations. It was a third place result that Morgatto lost from last year’s SummerNationals. The quarrel he had with Andrew Bujdoso not only cost him the championship, but valuable points in the EKN standings with a P14 result at New Castle. The current Stars Championship Series and two-time defending SKUSA Winter Series champion does not have a SuperNationals result in his total following that dramatic crash racing for the lead last November. Morgatto has room to improve his score to close out 2025.

Point Breakdown

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Shifterkart #4 – Kyle Wick
Auburn, Washington

(Photo: EKN)

Due to the close nature of the top four drivers, we included the GFC Karting driver as part of the profiles for this month’s EKN Driver Rankings. Wick finds himself only 73 points out of the top spot. The 2019 SKUSA Pro Tour champion matched his runner-up result from last year at the SummerNationals, improving his score slightly only to find himself fourth in the EKN standings, the same position in the SKUSA Pro Tour championship with finishes of 10th, third and second. Like Morgatto, he has a poor finish at SKUSA SuperNationals 27, with room for improvement on his score to close out the 2025 season.

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 2024, 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 awarded to special events of ROK Vegas, US Trophy Final, Rock Island Grand Prix, and IAME Grand National Championship. The core of the schedule featuring SKUSA Pro Tour, SKUSA Winter Series, United States Pro Kart Series, Florida Winter Tour, and Challenge of the Americas begin with a base ranking of 9. Other programs such as ProKart Challenge, Stars Championship Series, ROK Sonoma and others 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 Stilo USA – as of August 4, 2025

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