While there are some older racers in the Junior Dragster ranks, Janousek has a track record that can match any of them. In 2022, DragChamp.com ranked him the No. 1 Junior racer in the country and for good reason. Janousek had just won his second IHRA Division 4 (Renegades) Summit Team Finals title and also won an NHRA Division 4 title.

Janousek has taken home IHRA Ironman trophies at both IHRA-member tracks, Xtreme Raceway Park and Little River Dragway, which he represented at the 2023 IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Finals. Janousek explained why he excels at the larger events.

“I like fun events, the money, all that,” Janousek said. “We face a lot of competition at Little River. It’s a lot of fun to race there.”

It was also fun for him to race at the IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Finals presented by Strange Engineering. Janousek earned a bye in the quarterfinals after posting an 8.148-second pass at 77.87 mph and a .016 reaction time in a previous-round win over Addy Jones from Muncie Dragway.

In the semifinals, he defeated Louisiana racer Slade Olinde, who had earned his way to the world finals by winning an IHRA Sportsman Spectacular presented by Moser Engineering and FuelTech at State Capitol Raceway. Janousek had the better reaction time and then powered down the track in 8.085 seconds at 78.25 mph. 

He got a little too anxious in the final and triggered the red light against AJ Leung from Wisconsin International Raceway. Still, another strong run through tough rounds of eliminations only furthered Janousek’s reputation as one of the best Junior racers in North America. 

Janousek is athletic outside the race car, playing wide receiver for his football team and point guard on his basketball team. But, he most enjoys racing, that feeling of being in control of the car and driving fast.

With another strong performance at the IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Finals and more great ones surely to follow, the future looks bright for Janousek to keep building his reputation as one of the most talented drivers to come through the Junior Dragster ranks.