Austin Garrison takes over the top spot in the EKN TaG Driver Rankings (Photo: Studio52.us)

For the first time since October 2023, there is a new #1 in the eKartingNews.com TaG Driver Rankings presented by Stilo USA. The push toward the 2025 EKN Driver of the Year honor continues with a new contender at the top of the standings, following three big races that helped to reshape the rankings – USPKS Indiana Grand Prix, IAME USA Grand National Championship and the Stars Championship Series finale. Taking over the top spot is Speed Concepts Racing pilot Austin Garrison, demoting former top driver Ryan Norberg.

The newly crowned Superkarts! USA Pro Tour champion moves to the #1 spot with the removal of last year’s IAME USA Grand National Championship event and replaced with results from this year’s edition of the one-off event from Trackhouse Motorplex. Garrison was second at the 2025 Labor Day weekend event. Norberg – who made big headlines last week by announcing his departure from Rolison Performance Group and joining GFC Karting as both driver and new southeast distributor – was not able to match or replace his runner-up from the 2024 IAME event. That now leaves the difference to 20 points with Garrison holding the advantage.

Jumping up into the third spot is British driver Joe Turney (JHDD / Kart Republic). The 2025 SKUSA Winter Series champion recorded his seventh race over the 12-month span, dating back to his SuperNationals 27 win, to now put himself toward the top of the rankings. His promotion drops Diego Ramos (PSL Karting / Birelart) down to the fourth spot. Ramos recorded zero races in the last month, leaving his total unchanged. This also drops Ayden Ingratta (Speed Concepts Racing / CS55) and Caden McQueen (Velocity Racing / Sodi Kart) one position each to fifth and sixth. Ingratta’s last race was the SummerNationals in July, placing a best sixth over the two rounds. McQueen took part in his first IAME USA Grand National Championship event this past Labor Day, finishing eighth in the field of 31 drivers.

Also recording his seventh race of the season is fellow British driver Gus Lawrence (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic). Making his USA debut back in May, Lawrence was runner-up at the USPKS finale and followed it up with sixth at the IAME event. Those results promoted him 51 positions to be the EKN August ‘On the Move’ driver, to now be seventh in the rankings. He moved ahead of Blake Nash (Nash Motorsportz / EOS). Nash gained points this month, placing on the podium in third at the IAME race while celebrating the OK-N title at Stars Championship Series with a fourth place result. Winning the series finale at Trackhouse Motorplex was Pauly Massimino (Brandon Jarsocrak Racing / LN Racing Kart). Wins at different programs in different categories throughout 2025 make this among the more successful seasons for the North Carolina driver. Despite the increase in points, he falls three spots to ninth. Completing the top 10 is Spanish driver Ruben Moya. His score remains unchanged with his last run coming at the SummerNationals, placing fourth at New Castle. Moya announced his departure from Pantano factory team, joining KB Racing for the recent IAME Euro Series event.

Upcoming Events

TaG #1 – Austin Garrison
Davie, Florida

(Photo: EKN)

The new Superkarts! USA Pro Tour champion for Pro X30 has moved into the top spot of the EKN Driver Rankings. Garrison has proven to be among the best drivers in North America consistently over the last 11 years, including his SKUSA Pro Tour title in S2 Semi-Pro back in 2014. But especially over the last two seasons finding a connection with Speed Concepts Racing. His USPKS title in 2024 gives him two major titles over the last two seasons. The runner-up at the IAME USA Grand National Championship this Labor Day weekend helped to boost him over Norberg to take over the top spot and a chance to finish as Driver of the Year for 2025.

Point Breakdown

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TaG #2 – Ryan Norberg
Orlando, Florida

(Photo: EKN)

Not since 2023 in October has Ryan Norberg been in a position other than the #1 spot of the EKN Driver Rankings. For the first time since then, Norberg is looking up at the top position with only a few events remaining in the season. The now GFC Karting driver who departed after a six year run with Rolison Performance Group was not at the IAME USA Grand National Championship event, thus unable to replace his runner-up points from 2024. That demoted him to the second spot in the rankings, but big races in Vegas remain where Norberg can reclaim the top spot in the Driver of the Year chase.

Point Breakdown

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TaG #3 – Joe Turney
Milton Keynes, UK

(Photo: EKN)

Without question, Joe Turney is among the most successful karting drivers in the last five years. The British driver earned a second straight runner-up finish at the FIA Karting World Championship. For 2025, it was a return back to the USA after not racing for much of 2024, except that big one called the SKUSA SuperNationals where he doubled up on SuperSunday in KA100 Senior and Pro X30. That win along with his four at the SKUSA Winter Series and the USPKS finale puts him into the top three, eyeing the top spot in for EKN Driver of the Year. It will be a hard task with two events with scores below 1000, but never say never to Joe Turney.

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 TaG Driver Rankings presented by Stilo USA – as of September 15, 2025

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