Two podiums to close out SKUSA Pro Tour keeps Kyle Wick on top of the EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings (Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca)

It has been two months since the eKartingNews.com Shifterkart Driver Rankings presented by Skip Barber Racing School were updated. The September standings for the 2024 season includes the SKUSA Pro Tour SummerNationals, and other events since the beginning of July. The streak continues for GFC Karting’s Kyle Wick as he remains in the #1 spot of the standings.

Wick enjoys holding onto the top spot with solid two rounds to close out the 2024 SKUSA Pro Tour, including two podium results to remain in the top spot. Based on his events up through March, Daniel Formal holds the second spot despite missing the SummerNationals in his Sodi Racing USA debut due to a rib injury. Jumping up to third thanks to his victory at New Castle, his first since 2015, is Billy Musgrave (Factory Karts). The four-time SuperNationals winner demoted AJ Myers (Magik Kart USA), who falls to fifth in the standings.

Myers lost the two wins from the SummerNationals in 2023 and recorded a DNF at this year’s event. That equated to losing almost 300 points in his point total. This allowed the story of 2024 to move up into the fourth spot as well. Newly crowned SKUSA Pro Tour champion Matheus Morgatto (PSL Karting / Birel ART) now sits fourth, improving his score to within two points of Musgrave and 206 points out of the top spot. The two results Morgatto is missing compared to the top four are ROK Vegas and SKUSA SuperNationals 27. Morgatto will be at both this year.

Dropping out of the top five to sixth is Hunter Pickett (GFC Karting). A top 10 at the SummerNationals was not enough to improve his score, nor results at the California ProKart Challenge event at K1 Circuit. Making the biggest move inside the top-25 is Canadian Remo Ruscitti (Catalyst / Italkart). Putting in two wins at the Padholder Super Cup Series in the northwest, Ruscitti was able to get seven total events over the last 12 months, coming off a P8 at the SpringNationals in June.

Staying in the eighth position is Jacob Gulick (GFC Karting). His total fell after losing results from last year’s SummerNationals, replacing it with an eighth at this year’s event and runner-up performance in the second main event at K1 Circuit for CPKC. The value and double round weekend of last year’s SummerNationals was the final ‘big’ event for people to lose points from, and another was Tahlon Yockel (Sodi Kart). The privateer did put in top 10 performances at Stars in Ohio and SummerNationals, just missing the podium at New Castle. He now sits ninth in the standings ahead of California driver Michael Avansino (Ron White Racing / CRG). Avansino was in the thick of the hunt at the SummerNationals, ending up ninth while adding wins at ROK Sonoma and CPKC to boost his score up into the top 10.

Falling out of the top 10 is Michael Riccio (Magik Kart USA) who is now 11th while Keawn Tandon (GFC Karting) lost two events and did not replace, thus dropping him to 37th.

Upcoming Events

Shifterkart #1 – Kyle Wick
Auburn, Washington

(Photo: ChallengeKarting.com)

A total of six podium results for his seven best results over the last 12 months keeps the GFC Karting driver at the top spot of the Driver Rankings. Hitting the Challenge of the Americas with three wins, his only triumphs of 2024, and the two podiums to close out the SKUSA Pro Tour make him tough to beat moving toward the end of the season. His ROK Vegas victory and near podium result at the SuperNationals is another solid combination that will need to be duplicated in order to keep himself at #1.

Point Breakdown

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Shifterkart #2 – Daniel Formal
Boca Raton, Florida

(Photo: Flying Lap Media)

It has been since March 10 that Daniel Formal has recorded a result in karting. He was then with Rolison Performance Group and was scheduled to make his debut with Sodi Racing USA at the SummerNationals until a rib injury during testing took him out of the event before it began. With no results over the last six months, his total is based on results from October 2023. Once those results fall, so will Formal down the standings. Especially with him not able to defend his SKUSA SuperNationals victory with a conflict with his Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Finals in Spain.

Point Breakdown

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Shifterkart #3 – Billy Musgrave
Norco, California

(Photo: EKN)

The middle portion of the 2024 season belongs to the Factory Kart patriarch – Billy Musgrave. The four-time SKUSA SuperNationals winner has three wins in his last four starts, including the Stars event in Ohio, shocking the world with triumph at the SummerNationals, and winning one of the two first ever races at the K1 Circuit for the California PKC. Add in victory in Briggs 206 competition at the Spud Cup in Idaho last weekend, and Musgrave is on a winning streak across the country. Next up, another at the Stars and onto a record setting fifth SuperNationals triumph?

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 September 9, 2024

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