Ryan Norberg (Photo: ROK Cup USA/CKN)

A familiar face remains at the top of the 2020 eKartingNews.com Driver Rankings Powered by Bell Racing USA. Beginning the new season carries over much of the 2019 results, and with that keeps the four-time SKUSA Pro Tour champion Ryan Norberg at the top of the standings. A total of 11 rounds of the 121 counted toward the 2020 EKN Driver Rankings for TaG have been completed, setting the early stage for what may transpire throughout the year.

Norberg (RPG / Kosmic) came out with a second straight SKUSA Winter Series title and victory at the ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour to remain the bullseye for all TaG drivers. Brandon Jarsocrak (MDR / Kosmic) has yet to race in 2020 in TaG, focusing on the Florida Winter Tour in Shifter ROK with Team GFC Karting. 2019 Florida Winter Tour champion Christian Brooks has lost his wins from last year and dropped out of the top-three and replaced by Nash Motorsportz teammate Trey Brown. His 2019 season on the Pro Tour was his best thus far, making him one of the most consistent drivers on the year. The top-three finishers in the SKUSA Pro Tour for 2019 are now 1-2-3 in the EKN Driver Rankings to being 2020.

One driver making history has she progresses in the TaG category is Hannah Greenemeier. The RPG / Kosmic driver has become the highest ranked female driver in the history of the EKN TaG Driver Rankings. Greenemeier picked up her first SKUSA Winter Series victory in January and now into her third season in the Senior ranks, gunning to become the first female driver to win on the Pro Tour level. Brooks (Nash / FA Kart) fell from third to fifth, only running at the Florida Winter Tour and sitting ninth in the standings after claiming the title a year ago.

The bottom half of the top-10 has seen a great bit of shuffling. Alex Bertagnoli (KSNA / Kart Republic) has jumped up to sixth, improving his spot with two top-10 finishes at the SKUSA Winter Series. Austin Garrison (TB Kart) has moved over to shifterkart thus far in 2020, racing at the Florida Winter Tour and lost two positions to seventh. Jacob Gulick is up three spots, and gives Rolison Performance Group three drivers inside the top-10. Gulick finished the SKUSA Winter Series eighth in the standings with a pair of eighth-place finishes in January in addition to sitting seventh in the Florida Winter Tour championship.

Canadian Thomas Nepveau and Brit Oliver Hodgson are up into the top-10. Nepveau (PSL / Birel ART) stood on the podium in January at the SKUSA Winter Series and is 10th in the Florida Winter Tour standings. Hodgson (J3 / CompKart) benefitted from drivers falling out of the top-10, moving into the 10th position. His fourth-place effort at the 2019 SKUSA Pro Tour and sixth-place finish at the SuperNationals puts him as one of the best over the past 12 months. Dropping out of the top-10 includes Arthur Leist (PSL / Birel ART), Jake Craig (RPM / Tony Kart), and Brandon Lemke (Franklin / Merlin).

On the Move to begin 2020 is Diego Ramos (REM / Tony Kart). The Brazilian shocked everyone at ROK the RIO in Las Vegas with victory, and has carried that momentum into 2020. A runner-up in Miami and fourth at Ocala has Ramos leading the Florida Winter Tour championship. Add in the SKUSA Winter Series results advance him up to 14th heading into March.

Upcoming EKN TaG Driver Rankings Schedule

TaG #1 – Ryan Norberg
Orlando, Florida

(Photo: ROK Cup USA/CKN)

The ‘Drive for Five’ is underway for Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic driver Ryan Norberg. The defending four-time SKUSA Pro Tour champion is gunning for a fifth title this season. Norberg began the season by earning his fifth straight SKUSA title since the 2018 SKUSA Pro Tour crown. He’s earned the 2019 SKUSA Winter Series and California ProKart Challenge titles, and in February, another SKUSA Winter Series championship. He ended the month of February with a victory at the Florida Winter Tour in Ocala. The WinterNationals in two weeks can be a make or break weekend for Norberg and his quest for a fifth SKUSA Pro Tour championship. In the four rounds of racing for the WinterNats at NOLA, Norberg has a best finish of fourth with two fifth-place results.

Point Breakdown

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TaG #2 – Brandon Jarsocrak
Reading, Pennsylvania

(Photo: EKN)

The 2020 season could be a turning point for Brandon Jarsocrak. It has been at least five seasons that we have seen his name toward the top of the EKN Driver Rankings standings. The three-time USPKS champion has been the one driver that could match the numbers put up by Norberg during his four championships tenure. The first two months of the season, Jarsocrak added five gears, racing Shifter ROK at the Florida Winter Tour aboard a GFC. This weekend, he’s moving back to Senior ROK, but is undecided about making the trek over to NOLA for the SKUSA WinterNationals.

Point Breakdown

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TaG #3 – Trey Brown
San Diego, California

(Photo: EKN)

One of the top drivers over the span of the six SKUSA Pro Tour races was California’s Trey Brown. Under the Nash Motorsportz tent aboard a FA Kart, Brown recorded five top-six finishes to end up third in the SKUSA Pro Tour standings to earn the SKUSA #3 plate for the 2020 season. His best finish of third at the SpringNationals in Utah still has him searching for that first victory at that level. Brown finished second at the ProKart Challenge 2020 opener in Buttonwillow, racing with JH Motorsports. His 2020 schedule is limited, thus this could be the highest position he holds on the new year.

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 the Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix.

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 2020, 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.

2020 eKartingNews.com TaG Driver Rankings Powered by Bell Racing USA – as of February 28

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