Three championships on the season helped Matheus Morgatto the EKN Shifterkart 'Driver of the Year' (Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca)

The 2024 season has closed and the final standings of the eKartingNews.com Shifterkart Driver Rankings presented by Skip Barber Racing School have been tabulated. A total of 169 drivers contested 46 qualifying events across the United States over the last 12 months of the 2024 season. It was a season of excitement in the race to claim the Shifterkart Driver of the Year honor, which was earned by PSL Karting / Birel ART driver Matheus Morgatto.

The 2022 FIA Karting World Champion transitioned from single speed competition to the shifterkart ranks in 2024 here in the USA. Morgatto hit the ground running with seven straight victories – including championships at the SKUSA Winter Series, Florida Winter Tour and the SKUSA Pro Tour. His near podium finish at the ROK Vegas event elevated him to the #1 position to close out the 2024 EKN Driver Rankings. Last year’s #1 Kyle Wick (GFC Karting) held the top spot for much of 2024 before coming 51 points short of the ‘Driver of the Year’ honor at the end of this season. Stars Championship Series champion AJ Myers (Magik Kart USA) finished just over 100 points behind Morgatto in the final standings to complete the 2024 podium for the EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings.

Dropping out of the top three and finishing the year in fourth is now five-time SKUSA SuperNationals winner Billy Musgrave (Factory Karts). The SoCal driver had a strong second half of 2024, winning at Stars Championship Series, SKUSA SummerNationals and California ProKart Challenge. Musgrave improved his SuperNationals finish from ninth last year to seventh on this year’s SuperSunday in Pro Shifter after winning in his class debut for Master Shifter at SuperNats 27. He advanced one spot from last year’s EKN standings.

Advancing up three spots to fifth to wrap up the 2024 season is Jacob Gulick (GFC Karting). The driver from the state of Washington was runner-up in the SKUSA Pro Tour championship chase this year after placing third last season. Of his 11 races in 2024, Gulick finished inside the top eight in nine of them, including seven top five results. While the season was a winless 12 month period, a podium finish of third at ROK Vegas helped to boost him up the standings to finish in the top five.

It was a breakout season for Michael Avansino (Ron White Racing / CRG). The NorCal pilot was able to secure his first win and championship at Challenge of the Americas program during the first quarter of the season. Multiple wins at the ROK Sonoma series were complimented with a stellar P9 at the SKUSA SummerNationals. He bettered that result with eight place finishes at both ROK Vegas and SKUSA SuperNationals 27 to promote him up to sixth to close out the 2024 season in the EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings.

Only seven races in the 2024 season for former #1 and four-time SKUSA SuperNationals winner Daniel Formal. The season began with Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic, picking up two wins and two runner-up results at the SKUSA Winter Series. A dramatic finish at the SKUSA WinterNationals placing second to Morgatto was his final start with the team before moving over to Sodi Racing USA. His lone race was ROK Vegas, overcoming qualifying issues to end up fifth in the event he won twice before. Unable to return to the SuperNationals to defend his win in 2023 due to scheduling conflict, Formal lost valuable points and dropped from second to finish the year in seventh.

Also dropping in the final edition of the 2024 EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings is Hunter Pickett. The third driver from GFC Karting in the top 10 had a mixed bag of results on the season. Of his 12 races, just three were outside the top 10 with his best finishes coming at Challenge of the Americas with one podium and one additional top five result. He ends 2024 in the eighth spot, down two positions from September.

2023 Stars Championship Series title winner Tahlon Yockel stayed in the ninth position to close out the 2024 season. The privateer who started with Sodi Racing Racing went winless on the year but maintained his contender status with fourth in the SCS standings and finished fifth in the SKUSA Pro Tour chase. It is a one position improvement from last year’s EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings standings.

Completing the top 10 for the 2024 EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings is Vincenzo Sarracino (National Karting Group / Maranello). It is an improvement of nine spots from last year’s final standings. The Florida driver was runner-up in the ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour championship to Morgatto, thanks to three top four finishes against tough fields. He was only able to earn three 10th place results at Stars Championship Series events and fought from the LCQ to make the main at the SKUSA SuperNationals 27.

A breakdown of the top 10 includes seven different teams and chassis manufactures, three different countries (Brazil, Costa Rica, USA) and drivers from both coasts (California to Florida).

Shifterkart #1 – Matheus Morgatto
São Paulo, Brazil

(Photo: EKN)

It was a near perfect season for PSL Karting / Birel ART driver Matheus Morgatto. The Brazilian came into the year moving from single speed to shifterkart competition here in the USA after contesting the KZ2 platform in Europe. His opening nine races included two runner-up and seven victories. The SummerNationals broke up the streak, but the third place finish earned him the SKUSA Pro Tour championship to go with the SKUSA Winter Series and Florida Winter Tour titles. All that was left was the SKUSA SuperNationals 27, and we saw his drive from ninth to nearly the lead when it all came to an end in Turn One on lap 23 of 25. Despite the heartbreak in Vegas, the 2024 season will go down as one of the best put in by Morgatto, the EKN Shifterkart Driver of the Year.

Point Breakdown

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

Shifterkart #2 – Kyle Wick
Auburn, Washington

(Photo: ChallengeKarting.com)

The 2023 EKN Shifterkart Driver of the Year Kyle Wick did not have the exact season he wanted this year. It came with success, winning three of the four Challenge of the Americas races he started, however, the SKUSA Pro Tour season started on the sidelines with a DNF. The GFC Karting driver bounced back with podium results to finish fourth in the championship chase. He also added three podiums, including a win at the California ProKart Challenge final three rounds at the new K1 Circuit. While Wick stayed in the #1 spot throughout the 2024 season, it was the month of November that decided the final standings position. He lost last year’s ROK Vegas win and replaced it with a runner-up finish, however, the SuperSunday main event began with a spun in turn one. Unable to better or match his sixth place result, Wick dropped to second in the final standings.

Point Breakdown

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

Shifterkart #3 – AJ Myers
Mount Ulla, North Carolina

(Photo: Studio52.us)

It was another up and down end to the season for the ‘Magik Man’ AJ Myers. The lead driver for Magik Kart USA qualified sixth at the SKUSA SuperNationals 27, but a mechanical put him on the sideline for the opening heat. He was in the top three in his final heats and marched from 20th to a podium finish of fifth on SuperSunday. It was the sixth podium result at the SuperNationals since 2014. The 2024 season was a success with Myers grabbing the Stars Championship Series title, and aside from the SummerNationals, he finished inside the top six in all 2024 starts. The finish of third in the EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings is one above the 2023 result for the former two-time #1.

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 California 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 Skip Barber Racing School – as of December 16, 2024

Share on Facebook

Tweet