AJ Myers has moved into the #1 position in the EKN TaG Driver Rankings (Photo: USPKS - Kathy Churchill)

Looking at the top-25 drivers in the newest release of the eKartingNews.com TaG Driver Rankings, the drivers included are no question the best in North America. Any one of the 25 pilots are capable of winning any race they enter, from the regional level to the big stage. With four months of racing into the books thus far for 2015, the order at the top of the standings has been shuffled, with United States Pro Kart Series champion AJ Myers holding the #1 spot.

Myers (PCR) had a solid second half of the season in 2014, driving to two USPKS victories toward the championship, and performing as the top American in the KZ2 category at the SKUSA SuperNationals XVIII. The Florida driver came back to the USPKS last month, earning two more top-five finishes to improve his rankings score to take over the #1 position. Following him through is privateer driver Brandon Jarsocrak. Just like Myers, the Pennsylvania pilot came on strong in the second half of the USPKS program, finishing sixth in the championship chase. This April, Jarsocrak scored his first ever series victory in Leopard Pro aboard a Tony Kart, then followed it up with a fifth place finish at the SKUSA SpringNationals aboard a the American-made iKart.

Former #1 driver Jake Craig has slipped down to the third position. Moving from Tony Kart to the Formula K operation for 2015, Craig has shown speed throughout the opening events of the season, just not able to record matching results from a year ago. The defending SKUSA Fikse Wheels Pro Tour and US Rotax Grand Nationals champion is also competing in Europe this year, providing EKN with Driver Diary from each event. Another driver rising up the order is Illinois’ Elliot Finlayson. A winner at the USPKS finale, the Tony Kart pilot scored a runner-up result at the SKUSA SpringNationals to move himself up to the fourth spot in the Driver Rankings. Rounding out the top-five is veteran Mason Marotta (Tony Kart), moving back up toward the top of the order and recognized as the TaG ‘On the Move’ driver.

Down one position to sixth is Dustin Stross. The ‘Ironman’ of TaG competition over the past few years, Stross is limiting his schedule in 2015 and has moved over to the Top Kart brand. The Florida pilot scored two top-10 results at the USPKS program, and is among the championship contenders in the WKA Manufacturers Cup Series competition. Up one position is Michigan’s Derek Dignan. The KartSport North America driver has garnered podium results in USPKS and WKA competition, on the verge of posting top-10 finishes at the SKUSA SpringNationals aboard his FA Kart. US Rotax Grand Nationals and Rotax Pan American Challenge runner-up Daniel Roeper (BirelART) moved up five positions, improving his score a few points after the recent Florida Winter Tour campaign.

Back into the top-10 is Praga North America’s Andrick Zeen. Tied with Mark Boos with the most races counted toward the EKN Driver Rankings (27), Zeen was among the top contenders at the Florida Pro Kart Series winter program and stood on the podium at the USPKS opener at GoPro Motorplex. Completing the top-10 is the newest Florida Winter Tour champion Kyle Kirkwood. The young Floridian is entering his second season in the Senior ranks, as the Ocala Gran Prix / Tony Kart driver beat out former #1 driver Oliver Askew for the Senior Max championship, earning his ticket to the 2015 Rotax Grand Finals. Kirkwood is also breaking into formula car racing, showing well in his first few outings in a F1600 cockpit.

On the outside looking in are some rising rookies and another veteran driver. Louie Pagano has finished in the top-three on the SKUSA Fikse Wheels Pro Tour TaG Senior standings the last three years. Following the SpringNationals, Pagano is on top of the championship standings thanks to a sweep in Round One. It was followed by a near sweep in Round Two, but pre-race contact in the main event knocked out his exhaust and the Tony Kart driver man-handled it back on, salvaging a top-15 result against a stacked field. Pagano dropped in the EKN Driver Rankings, to 12th, just ahead of the top two rookies so far in 2015.

Christian Brooks nearly scored the Rotax Challenge of the Americas championship this winter in his Senior debut. Just four points separated him and Luke Selliken after six hard fought rounds of racing. The SoCal driver bounced back at the California ProKart Challenge, and currently leads the standings after three events, including his first TaG Senior victory. Phillippe Denes has been just as busy, competing in the COTA program in the seventh position in the standings aboard a Kosmic, and has moved over to the PCR brand to compete at the USPKS and the SKUSA Fikse Pro Tour. Denes was the top rookie at the SpringNationals, coming out in the seventh position in the championship chase.

Upcoming EKN TaG Driver Rankings Events

AJ Myers

NEW TaG #1 – AJ Myers
Tampa, Florida

There is no question that the two largest programs in TaG competition is the SKUSA Fikse Wheels Pro Tour and the United States Pro Kart Series. On the USPKS side, AJ Myers claimed the championship in 2014, and ran to top-five results at the season opener at the GoPro Motorplex. United States competition will take a back seat to his schedule in Europe, competing with the Scuderia PCR factory team in the KZ2 division having just arrived in Italy to stay for the next few months. With selected events schedule in his return to the States, his time at the top of the EKN Driver Rankings may be short lived.

Point Breakdown

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

Brandon Jarsocrak (Photo: USPKS – Kathy Churchill)

TaG #2 – Brandon Jarsocrak
Shillington, Pennsylvania

Some of you may be saying, who is Brandon Jarsocrak? Those in WKA and USPKS competition know him as a rising young talent. Brandon earned the nickname ‘Money’ last year after scoring the $1,000 check in the Yamaha Pro division at all four series weekends, earning the series title in the process. At the same time, he contested the Leopard Pro division, earning five top-10 results in eight races. Jarsocrak has started out 2015 on top of the USPKS standings thanks to his first series victory in Mooresville aboard his Tony Kart. The following weekend, Jarsocrak was impressive in his iKart debut at the SKUSA SpringNationals, placing fifth in Sunday’s main event.

Point Breakdown

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

Jake Craig (Photo: EKN)

TaG #3 – Jake Craig
Mission Viejo, California

The first eight months of the 2014 season were very successful for Jake Craig. It led to a runner-up at the Rotax Challenge of the Americas championship, the point standings lead in the SKUSA Fikse Wheels Pro Tour, and a US Rotax Grand Nationals victory. The Tony Kart driver eventually went on to capture the TaG Senior championship despite a disappointing DNF at the SuperNationals, and became #1 in the EKN Driver Rankings. Most of Craig’s best results came during the months of January through May, which are now gone from the current Driver Rankings standings, putting him third in the order. The Formula K driver is not rattled, putting himself in contention to defend his SKUSA title following a solid SpringNationals.

Point Breakdown

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

Mason Marotta (Photo: EKN)

TaG ‘On the Move’ – #5
Mason Marotta
Bakersfield, California

There is no doubt that when you make a list of the top TaG drivers in the United States, Mason Marotta’s name comes up. Marotta has the ability to always be fast no matter what track. After taking a break from the national scene, he returned last year with a stellar performance at the US Rotax Grand Nationals to land on the podium, later receiving a ticket to the Rotax Grand Finals. The Ryan Perry Motorsport driver returned at the beginning of the year, driving to two victories at the always competitive Rotax Challenge of the Americas program. Marotta landed on the podium at the SKUSA SpringNationals, and finds himself in the hunt for the SKUSA Fikse Wheels Pro Tour TaG Senior championship.

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 TaG and six in Stock Moto 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 included the results for the major one-off events such as the SKUSA SuperNationals, the US Rotax Max Challenge Grand Nationals, 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 2015, the SKUSA SuperNationals and US Rotax Max Challenge Grand Nationals receive a score of 10 in their initial weighting in the TaG category while the SuperNationals is the lone event in the Stock Moto division. The SKUSA Pro Tour series events draw a base ranking of nine (9), as does the United States Pro Kart Series, Florida Winter Tour Rotax Max Challenge, Rotax Challenge of the Americas. Other national and regional program races were given a base ranking of either 8.5 or 8.

The EKN staff reserves the right to adjust the rankings of each event throughout the year. A minimum entry total for any events 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 in TaG, six for Stock Moto, we calculate each driver’s overall score and subsequent ranking.

EKN TaG Driver Rankings – as of May 15, 2015

Share on Facebook

Tweet