GRIDLIFE Sends off Pitt Race, Crowns Champions at Season Finale
Wampum, PA - GRIDLIFE’s season finale at Pittsburgh International Race Complex brought over 175 cars out for one last party at a racetrack that will close its doors this fall. It was the ninth round of the season, one that would see the crowning of champions across GRIDLIFE’s competition classes. The event was live broadcast on the GRIDLIFE YouTube channel, with tens of thousands tuning in to watch.
In Falken Club SC, Mike Janssen arrived in his Honda Civic with the championship already locked up, but added yet another win to his season. Though he left the facility after Friday’s morning qualifying sessions to attend a wedding, he returned on Sunday morning, bettering his time, setting a new track record for the class at 2:09.505. In the Podium Sprint, he defended his pace and won over Austin O’Brien and Sam Deuling, both in Honda Fits. Deuling placed 2nd on the season after a valiant effort to take down Janssen in California just weeks ago.
Falken Club TR was a fierce fight all weekend long, though Saturday’s sessions lacked optimal conditions for improvement. Most of the quick times were set early on Friday, with some marginal improvements throughout the field in the morning session on Sunday. The five qualifiers for Podium Sprint included four of the top five in the season points - Mario Mirone, the leader, in his #727 Honda Civic, Peter Granberg, in his #511 Subaru BRZ, Evan McLaren in his #514 Acura Integra, and Stan Fayngold in his #326 Toyota 86. Kevin Vue, in a JDM Integra Type R, qualified for the Podium Sprint as well in his #18. McLaren and Granberg each set new drivetrain records on Friday, a 1:53.139 for McClaren in FWD, and 1:53.442 for Granberg in RWD. Last year, the title came down to just 0.003 seconds, advantage McLaren. Though Mario Mirone led coming into Pitt Race, if either Granberg or McClaren won, they would knock him off the top step of the podium. Mirone entered as the third seed in Podium Sprint, and slipped off at the tricky braking zone before turn 17. He finished fifth in the sprint, and second in the championship. Kevin Vue earned a podium behind Peter Granberg in 2nd. Evan McClaren went on to win both Podium Sprint and the championship, two years in a row.
Joshua Halka led Street class for most of the year, totalling up 102 points, but maximum points is a score of 104, which is four event wins and four drivetrain class records. Halka’s WRX suffered a variety of issues, including a knock sensor problem and an issue with the turbocharger, leaving him down on power while he, and Turn In Concepts, diagnosed the issue. The time was precious, and Andy Holst’s first session in his #443 Evo led him to a new class record, a 1:51.127. Holst had three wins and three records, which meant a Podium Sprint win earns him the championship in Halka. He did just that on Sunday afternoon, as Halka had to sit out. Though rain had started to fall, Holst won handily over Eddy Segal and Bucky Lasek. Cody Umbaugh, who finished fourth in Podium Sprint, scored a new FWD Street record, a 1:55.787.
Street GT’s champion was decided before Pitt Race, with Luke McGrew building a sizable gap to second in his #717 Chevrolet Corvette. While McGrew dealt with suspected food poisoning, he powered through and scored a new record early in the weekend, a 1:47.964. He didn’t participate in the Podium Sprint, where Ryan Mathews, Evin Degirmencioglu, and Connor Gallagher scored podiums as the rain started to pour. Though McGrew didn’t pick up another trophy, he will earn the Street GT title in 2025.
Dewey DeWitt dominated the Street Mod championship in 2025, earning four wins and four track records, and a 104-point perfect score. Though Allen Patten intended on stealing his thunder at Pitt Race, the GR Supra he was driving suffered a mechanical issue with the engine and retired for the weekend prior to Podium Sprint. Patten reset the RWD record, with a blisteringly quick 1:42.002, before jumping into Unlimited class with his GR Supra GT4 for the remainder of the weekend. This allowed DeWitt, who already reset the AWD class record with a 1:45.394, to enter the Podium Sprint with less pressure. He fended off hard charging Luca Barberis to win Podium Sprint in the rain in incredible fashion, running in the 1:49s in extremely wet conditions. Dayton Delahoussaye, in a ND-generation Mazda MX-5, scored third in the Podium Sprint.
The battle that was Track Mod this season came to a grinding halt in California last month as Jackie Ding’s pursuit of Allen Patten ended in the Corkscrew - but that didn’t stop the podium from reshuffling. While Chris Boersma and Dallas Reed reset records (FWD for Boersma, 1:47.920, AWD for Reed, 1:51.095), Andrew Brownfield led most of the weekend in his Toyota GR Supra. In the Podium Sprint, Brownfield continued his dominance of Pitt Race, but the battle for third in the season came down to Chris Smith and Justin Peachey’s battle in the rain. Smith scored second in the Sprint, Peachey just fourth, giving Chris Smith just enough points to win the tiebreaker and claim third in the season championship.
The Unlimited class changed pictures a few times during the weekend. After an insane 1:40.118 lap by Jimmy Rauck in his Honda Civic, smashing the previous Unlimited record, the car suffered a transmission issue and retired, opening the door for Andrius Bertulis, Zac Zhou, and others to steal a win in Podium Sprint. However, after Allen Patten’s GR Supra went kaput in Street Mod, he moved his GR Supra GT4 car to Unlimited, earning the win in the rain during the Podium Sprint over Bertulis and Zac Zhou. After a herculean effort to repair the car after an incident at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Joshua Briggs qualified for the Podium Sprint just to have an issue on the out lap, causing a retirement and a fourth place result for season’s end.
The GRIDLIFE RUSH Series raced four more times as part of a non-points encore after the conclusion of the championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca last month. Without many of the major players, nearly two dozen other drivers jump at the chance to rack up some wins at season’s end. Jaylan Battley led most of the weekend, qualifying on pole and winning the first three races. Fresh off of a tough round at Autobahn Country Club where he finished second in all four races, Pitt Race was a breakthrough event. He wasn’t without his challengers though - Jason Oehler in race 1, and Aryton Grim in races 2 and 3. Battley and Grim put on an epic display of racing throughout the weekend, trading the lead back and forth several times before Battley scampered off. Max Krause eeked out third place on the weekend with two fourths, a third, and a win in a rain-shortened race 4. In the second race of the weekend, Jeremy Boysen’s #22 RUSH SR took a tumble after a turn one incident, but the damage was minor and repairable to the roll bars and the car, and thankfully uninjured Jeremy, will be back in 2026.
GRIDLIFE GT’s final four races culminated in a championship hunt that came down to the last race of the year to decide the title winner. The new wheel to wheel series, building off of growth of Eibach GRIDLIFE Touring Cup, had several full-season entrants vying for the win. Of those, AJ Hartman, in a twin-turbo V6 Ford Mustang, and Hans Horpdahl, in a classy silver C5 Corvette, mathematically could win with a solid round at Pitt Race. The championship leader, James Houghton, didn’t plan on attending, leaving the trophy up for grabs. Chris Delucia borrowed a car from Jeff Zizzulis after an engine failure at Laguna Seca, and he showed pace early in the weekend, qualifying 3rd behind Christian Aranha in the #606 Toyota GR Supra GT4 and AJ Hartman. While Aranha dominated the first three races, Hartman scored 2nd, 5th, and 3rd in those races, while Horpedahl scored 8th, 3rd, and 7th. This left Horpedahl with a chance to win the championship if he won the final race - which he did in downpour conditions over Hartman. The delta between the two at season’s end was just two points. Chris Delucia’s consistent weekend earned him the 1st place trophy for the event, with two thirds and two seconds in his borrowed car. Zizzulis scored 6th on the weekend with a car that was built in about a week after committing his main car to DeLucia, earning himself the GRIDLIFE Spirit of the Weekend Award.
Matan Rosenberg earned his second straight Eibach GRIDLIFE Touring Cup Series title at Pitt Race, earned after a dominant weekend of results where he scored three firsts and a 2nd. Though he came into Pitt Race with a mere 8 points over Eric Kutil, he extended his lead and won handily in his #484 Falken Corvette. His wins came in spite of returning 2022 series champion, Tom O’Gorman, who was once again piloting the mythical “Trainer 3” from ASM. Tom earned pole position for race 1 and scored three seconds, before a differential issue caused a retirement in race 4. Eric Kutil, whose average finish was an incredible (and best of the series) 2.3 coming into Pitt Race, qualified second but struggled to finish higher than third. Though he earned a podium in race 1, an overheating issue caused a DNF in race 2, and races 3 and 4 earned him fifth in each. He finished second on the season and 8th in the weekend points, but remains a persistent and fierce competitor, competing in every season since GRIDLIFE’s wheel-to-wheel inception. Eric Magnussen finished second on the weekend over Tom O’Gorman, and earned third in the season championship in his second year of racing with GRIDLIFE. Paul Darling, who scored his first wins of his Eibach GLTC career, earned the coveted “Bestest Driver of the Year” award, a travelling award that is re-gifted to another competitor at the end of each season - someone who embodies the spirit and competition of Eibach GLTC.
Matan Rosenberg’s championship earns him and a family member or friend a trip to Eibach’s 75th anniversary celebration next year in Germany, and he’ll have the chance to drive on the famous Nurburging Nordschliefe as part of the journey.
The GRIDLIFE season is wrapped up, with 2026 announcements coming soon.
