ACI Motorsports, one of the top teams in Pirelli GT4 America and Porsche Carrera Cup North America competition, has announced today that it will step back up to GT World Challenge America powered by AWS as a Mercedes-AMG customer team.
The team from Chattanooga, Tennessee had previously dipped a toe in the GT3 waters back in 2023, competing for the first half of the GT World America season before electing to focus on its expanding success in the GT4 and one-make racing categories.
The following year, ACI Motorsports won the Pirelli GT4 America Pro-Am championship, and this year, ACI Motorsports drivers have won the Pro-Am and Masters class championships in Porsche Carrera Cup North America.
Team owner Curt Swearingin has also confirmed that the #74 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO will be driven by current ACI drivers Matt Smith and Yves Baltas.
Smith was part of a triple victory for ACI in June when the team won all three classes of a Porsche Carrera Cup North America race in Watkins Glen, and currently occupies sixth in the Masters Class standings behind champion-elect and teammate Marco Cirone. Smith has previously driven the Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO in track day and lower-level racing series, and will debut in GT World America alongside driver/coach Baltas.
Baltas, 24, has competed in European single-seaters earlier in his career, and after an aborted move up to the Japanese Super Formula Championship, he resettled in his home country in the United States where he has become part of ACI’s recent success since joining the team in late 2024. He swept both Carrera Cup North America races at the Miami International Autodrome last year en route to seventh in the Pro class standings
Earlier this year, he and Trenton Estep scored their first GT4 America overall win at Barber Motorsports Park.
“We are super excited to step up to GT World Challenge America with Matt Smith and Yves Baltas and start a new partnership with Mercedes-AMG Motorsport,” said Swearingin, the 2024 GT4 America Pro/Am champion as both an owner and driver. “We are familiar with GT World Challenge from running in the series for a season in 2023 but feel now, with our ongoing growth and broader infrastructure, that ACI Motorsports is in a better position to achieve even more success in GT World Challenge Pro-Am.
“Matt has made incredible progress in recent seasons as a top level Am and Masters class competitor and will be strong right away in GT World Challenge with his bronze-level peers. Yves is more than ready to join the fight with the top GT3 drivers that we have seen go at it in the final 60 minutes of this year’s new three-hour race format. Being able to perfect and work on some endurance racing skills and pit stops is another benefit of the new GT World Challenge America format, and we can’t wait to get started.”
“We are happy to welcome ACI Motorsports to the World’s Fastest Family,” said Stefan Wendl, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport’s Head of Customer Racing. “We have raced against many competitive ACI entries both this season in Pirelli GT4 America and back in GT World Challenge America a few years ago and have seen a great deal of first-class preparation and talented drivers. Their excitement not only for next season but for the years to come is great to see. At Mercedes-AMG Motorsport, we share their passion and ambition for success and look forward to building a strong and successful partnership with ACI Motorsports.”
“Their excitement not only for next season but for the years to come is great to see. We more than share this passion for success at Mercedes-AMG Motorsport and look forward to a mutually successful relationship with ACI Motorsports.”
Smith said, “I am at a high level of excitement to take the next step in my motorsports journey. ACI Motorsports, Yves and Mercedes-AMG were the logical components for our success and the decision to move forward. Specifically on Mercedes-AMG, I previously owned a Mercedes-AMG GT3 and have been in love with the car ever since.
“We also analyzed all of the potential candidates, and based on our goals, historic performance of this car, Balance of Performance (BoP) and the other factors that matter, it was an easy choice. We look forward to racing this Mercedes-AMG GT3 in its final years of homologation and can’t wait to see what the new car will do.”
Baltas added, “This is a step in my career I have been wanting to take for a long time. I have finally hit that mark where the team and I feel like we are ready to take that next step forward, and I couldn’t be more excited. It was great to race overseas earlier in my career, and it definitely gave me a lot of knowledge in racecraft for sure. When I came back and met Curt, he welcomed me with open arms and gave me a good home at ACI Motorsports and a nice platform to develop with him and Team Manager Adam Tanner. It has been a good family growing together, and it’s cool to see us all take the next step as a team.
“I have been working with Matt for a little over a year and a half now, and he just takes huge steps forward. It’s super impressive to see, especially with how little time he has had in the car, how quick and how fast he can learn at new tracks, particularly this year. I have been in and out of a front engine car a few times before, but the Mercedes-AMG GT3 will be the first time I am racing one. I am very excited, everyone really speaks highly of this car, and I am really excited to see what we can accomplish next season.”
Images © ACI Motorsports
