Mike Janssen Claims Falken Club SC Title
Three GRIDLIFE class winners scored the maximum possible points in 2025 - one of those competitors was Mike Janssen in his #156 Falken Club SC Honda Civic. His championship comes as a result of completing nearly all the events in 2025, eight in total, and winning five times. Four of those events came with a class drivetrain record, securing him the 104 points needed to lock out his competitors from championship contention.
Janssen’s season began at Carolina Motorsports Park, where he managed just fourth in his Podium Sprint appearance, following winner Chris Rice, runner up Ryan Mukherjee, and Sam Deuling. Deuling, in his #370 Honda Fit, is a long-time Falken Club SC competitor and would give chase to Janssen for most of the year. Janssen’s first podium came at the GRIDLIFE Special Stage at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, where he scored third in the non-Podium Sprint event.
GRIDLIFE Midwest Festival was Janssen’s breakthrough - he won the Podium Sprint over Sam Deuling and David Best, despite Best breaking the track record earlier in the weekend. Janssen earned 25 points here, before heading to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, resetting the record, and stacking on another 26 points.
Janssen then picked up a Podium Sprint win at Road America, during GRIDLIFE’s Summer Apex Festival, and reset the track record in the process. Now armed with three wins, all he needed was one more win to nearly lock up the championship fight. Instead of trying to follow up his Road America win at Lime Rock Park, he instead brought his BMW M3 to Circuit Legends, scoring 7th there before returning to Falken Club SC at Autobahn Country Club in September.
At GRIDLIFE Chicagoland, the Podium Sprint format again brought an upset, with Lennon Radcliffe snagging the win late in the session, despite Janssen’s track record reset. Janssen left Chicago with 22 more points, dropping his 3rd from Road Atlanta off of his season points calculation. Then, Janssen shipped his car over 2,500 miles to Salinas, California, to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, to try to lock up the championship. Though his efforts were looking futile, Sam Deuling drove his car from Michigan to California in hopes to make Janssen’s path a little harder. Despite strong efforts from Deuling, and a few track record resets throughout the weekend, Janssen scored the win in the Podium Sprint, his fourth win of the season. With just one event left in the season, Janssen returned home, then to Pittsburgh International Race Complex, where he once again reset the track record, and won the Podium Sprint.
Janssen’s season is one of the most successful across GRIDLIFE TrackBattle in the current championship format, scoring as many points as possible, with room to spare - he was 16 clear of Sam Deuling at season’s end in his #156 Honda Civic.
