ACI Motorsports has been a regular contender aboard Porsche machinery in multiple series across the US, but for 2024, the Curt Swearingin-owned team is stepping up to a whole new level.
Swearingin was behind the wheel with ACI when the Porsche Carrera Cup North America Championship was launched in 2021. In the following years, they have run up to four cars in the series but have made the leap to seven cars in 2024 – including its first entry into the Pro class.
Last year, the team added Fanatec GT World Challenge and GT4 America programs to their schedule. This year, Swearingin will again compete in GT4 America with Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver Kay van Berlo as well as contesting the single-driver GT America championship.
He has already been collecting trophies in 2024 – taking second place with van Berlo in GT4 Pro-Am at Sonoma and finishing third in the GT4 class in GT America last weekend on the streets of Long Beach.
Next weekend in Florida, the ACI squad faces a unique logistical challenge. While the team’s seven Carrera Cup machines are in action at the Miami Formula 1 Grand Prix, Swearingin and van Berlo will also be racing 155 miles away at Sebring International Raceway on the same weekend in the two SRO series.
“Running multiple cars is usually not that bad, but when you have two separate series running in the same state at the same time, that’s a much bigger challenge with equipment and personnel,” Swearingin said.
“We’re just going to try to do our best like always and try to perform at the highest level we can.
“We have a really strong showing in Carrera Cup this year which is awesome – and running a Pro car for the very first time. Carrera Cup is one of my favorite places to be and I think I’ll end up back there racing a car myself one day.”
ACI’s line-up for 2024 includes Jimmy Llibre in Pro; Marco Cirone, Roberto Tutino, and Pedro Torres in Pro-am, and a Masters line-up which features Matt Halcome, Richard Edge, and Tom Balames.
After the opening rounds of the season at Sebring, two ACI drivers lead their respective championships – Cirone in Pro-Am and Halcome in Masters.
Swearingin’s stepfather was in the military, and the future racer developed his passion for the Porsche brand as a senior in high school in Germany.
“I saw a 911 whale tail red turbo when I was in high school and immediately wanted one, but it was a bit out of my budget at the time,” he said.
“I rode motorcycles for years, and I decided I was going to die on one of those because I was too stupid. So I decided to buy a car – and when I did I chose a Porsche and got invited to do a track day with my local dealership.
“On my first track day, Patrick Long was there. We started talking about racing, and I went for a ride with him. I learned right then that I did not know how to drive a car!
“I wanted to set a path at that point to learn how to be a race driver – I haven’t gotten all the way there yet, and I’ll never get to Pat’s level – but I’m still pushing forward.”
ACI Motorsports has two race shops – one in Chattanooga and it’s second just outside of Road Atlanta. Swearingin’s Advanced Collision business has a total of eight locations and is certified to repair damaged road-going Porsches.
Swearingin is a busy man with nine race cars competing in 2024 on top of the eight collision centers – but what’s more, he also owns the World Racing League – an amateur endurance series that races at major venues across the country including Road America, Daytona, Charlotte, Road Atlanta, Watkins Glen, Sebring, Mid-Ohio and more.
The secret to his success is building a good team of people to run the separate business ventures.
“We have a lot of good people on the collision side as well as the race team. Even with our World Racing League, having the right people is what it’s all about,” Swearingin said.
“We’re very pleased with our expansion in Carrera Cup, and our goal is certainly to chase championships – in Pro, Pro-Am, and Masters. The season started very well, and while there’s a long way to go, we hope to continue carrying the momentum through 2024 and into the future.”
EBOOST Porsche Motorsport North America Junior Program racer Jake Pedersen will team up with the Wisconsin-based Kellymoss squad for both his Porsche Carrera Cup North America and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge campaigns.
Pedersen will continue to race the No.85 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entry for the remainder of the season – continuing to showcase his self-designed “art on wheels” livery inspired by his musical icons. His first outing for Kellymoss will be at the upcoming Miami Formula 1 Grand Prix – the only round of the championship he missed last year.
The 23-year-old racer/student/musician also will continue to compete in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge aboard a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport – lining up alongside his new coach, 13-time Carrera Cup North America race winner and Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver, Kay van Berlo.
Pedersen will be part of a seven-car squad for Kellymoss in Carrera Cup and a now expanded two-car team in Michelin Pilot Challenge that Kellymoss runs in conjunction with Riley Motorsports.
Former Carrera Cup rivals Riley Dickinson (2023 Pro Champion) and Michael McCarthy (2021 Porsche Sprint Challenge by Yokohama Champion) joined with Brady Golan to win the opening Michelin Pilot Challenge race of the season at Daytona International Speedway.
“I’ve already felt accepted into the family at Kellymoss. I’m fortunate to not only be competing in the same corner with them, but to be surrounded by the great people that constitute the team. To me, that is more valuable than anything,” said Pedersen.
“I look forward to working with Kay. It brings peace of mind to know that he has been in a similar boat of balancing school and racing, and has done a successful job.”
Van Berlo’s new Michelin Pilot Challenge campaign is in addition to his SRO GT America campaign. The Dutchman and ACI Motorsports boss Curt Swearingin finished second in the Sunday Pro-Am race recently at Sonoma Raceway.
“Kellymoss is renowned for its exceptional driver development platform,” van Berlo said.
“I am excited to partner with Jake and have great confidence that he is positioned to thrive. My goal is to contribute to his growth and achieve outstanding results on the track together.
“Additionally, I am excited to continue my collaboration with the Kellymoss with Riley partnership. Both teams played pivotal roles in launching my racing career, and I am confident they can do the same for Jake.”
Pedersen and van Berlo’s debut as a driver pairing in Michelin Pilot Challenge will take place at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on May 10-12.
“We’re excited to see Jake grow from the partnership with Kay,” said Andy Kilcoyne, Kellymoss CEO and Co-owner.
“We know Jake has the raw potential, positive attitude and commitment to benefit from Kay’s years of experience and championship mentality. And, Kay will also benefit from his role as Jake’s mentor, adding depth to his coaching and driving resume.”
Van Berlo is in his second year as a Porsche Motorsport North America selected driver. Last season he ran in the GTD class in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Kellymoss with Riley Motorsport – winning at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with Alan Metni.
“We are committed to fostering growth opportunities for our drivers, which makes it especially rewarding to welcome Kay back to our team. Kay is the ideal partner for Jake, both on and off the track,” said Victoria Thomas, CFO and Co-owner of Kellymoss.
“Jake’s career will undoubtedly be enriched by Kay’s extensive expertise.”
PenFed Credit Union, America’s second-largest federal credit union, today announced it joined with the Porsche Carrera Cup North America to become the presenting partner of the final two races in the 2024 championship.
PenFed will join the championship for the penultimate round at Road Atlanta for the Petit Le Mans weekend and the season finale at the Circuit of the Americas for the US Grand Prix.
“PenFed is proud to partner with a brand that shares our winning mindset and values excellence and teamwork. There is no better racing experience in the world than Porsche Carrera Cup North America,” said PenFed Credit Union President/CEO James Schenck.
“We look forward to introducing PenFed and our incredible products and services to Porsche fans.”
As presenting partner for Road Atlanta and Circuit of the Americas, all Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars competing in the capacity field will feature PenFed branding across the windshield.
The Porsche PenFed Driver’s Lounge will host all series competitors and guests in style at each event.
PenFed first became involved in Porsche Carrera Cup North America last year as a sponsor for Sabré Cook’s No. 37 entry and continues the sponsorship for the 2024 season.
“We’re thrilled to welcome PenFed to the Porsche Carrera Cup North America championship,” said President and CEO of Porsche Motorsport North America Volker Holzmeyer.
“Having PenFed as our presenting partner for the final rounds of the championship will be outstanding. They will get to showcase their brand at two fantastic events.”
About PenFed Credit Union
Established in 1935, Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) is America’s second-largest federal credit union, serving 2.9 million members worldwide with nearly $35 billion in assets. PenFed Credit Union offers market-leading certificates, checking, credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, auto loans, student loans, and a wide range of other financial services with members’ interests always in mind. PenFed Credit Union is federally insured by the NCUA and is an Equal Housing Lender. To learn more about PenFed Credit Union, visit PenFed.org, like us on Facebook and follow us @PenFed on X. Interested in working for PenFed? Check us out on LinkedIn. We are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.
RAFA Racing Club has teamed up with Porsche Carrera Cup North America to showcase the club’s impressive future plans in conjunction with the Montreal and Watkins Glen rounds of the 2024 championship.
The Houston-based community of car enthusiasts will be the presenting partner for the championship when the capacity field of Porsche 911 GT3 Cup machines do battle at the Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve from June 7-9 and at the major blue-ribbon IMSA event at Watkins Glen International on June 20-22.
All Porsche machines entered in the championship’s three classes will feature RAFA Racing Club branding on the windshield.
RAFA Racing Club was the Pro-am class naming rights partner for Porsche Carrera Cup North America last year. Not content with just seeing their name adorn cars on the track, RAFA Racing Club also is competing in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama in 2024 with a four-car Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport RS team including club founder, Rafael Martinez, female racers Caroline Candas and Paige Morales and Call of Duty gaming legend, Ian “Crimsix” Porter – who dominated the recent opening rounds at Sebring International Raceway.
“We’re partnering with Porsche Carrera Cup to present the Montreal and Watkins Glen rounds of the championship because it helps tell the story of what RAFA Racing Club is—a chance to bring motorsports enthusiasts together at two premier events in North America,” said Rafael Martinez, founder of RAFA Racing Club.
“A lot of our members aspire to be Carrera Cup drivers, either as a final stop on their journey or as part of their career process like the path we started on this season racing as a team in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama.
“We want to continue to foster that sense of community and camaraderie within this championship, just like we do with our Club when we ‘Race As Family Always.’”
RAFA Racing Club and Yokohama Tire will be two of the four presenting partners for Porsche Carrera Cup North America in 2024. Yokohama was the presenting partner for the recent opening two rounds at Sebring International Raceway and the upcoming races at the Miami Formula 1 Grand Prix.
With construction underway at its Houston headquarters, RAFA Racing Club is a private supercar club focused on driver development. The facility will include a clubhouse, car storage, and training facility, while the club also offers members race driver training, networking opportunities, and prestigious social events.
“RAFA Racing Club joined Porsche Carrera Cup North America as a partner for the first time last year, and we are delighted to welcome Rafael and his organization back for 2024,” Porsche Motorsport President and CEO Volker Holzmeyer said.
“RAFA Racing Club is utilizing the fantastic reach of our championship to showcase its brand for our passionate Porsche community, and it is amazing to see them also hit the track and compete in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama this year.
“Not only is the man behind the brand Rafael Martinez getting behind the wheel himself, but he has brought two amazing female racers into the championship to race in the Cayman class in 2024 as well as Ian Porter, who is showing the quick reflexes he possessed to become a champion in the world of gaming, certainly transfer to the racetrack.
“We’re certainly hoping to see these young racers move through the ranks and one day join the grid for Porsche Carrera Cup North America.”
Thanks to a new partnership between EBOOST and Porsche Motorsport North America, the young stars of Porsche Carrera Cup North America and Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama will receive additional support, guidance, and career development in 2024.
EBOOST has become the official naming rights partner for the program, which features talented young racers, including Loek Hartog, Gustav Burton, Zachary Vanier, Jake Pedersen, Jimmy Llibre, Yves Baltas, Elias De La Torre in Carrera Cup, and Paul Bocuse, Paige Morales and Caroline Candas in Sprint Challenge.
The EBOOST range provides clean performance products that increase energy, focus, and overall well-being. It is available at major retailers across the country, including CVS, Wegmans, Kroger, and more, and is also sold online.
“For season 2024, Porsche is thrilled to welcome EBOOST as the naming rights partner for the program Porsche Motorsport North America Junior Program,” said Volker Holzmeyer, President and CEO of Porsche Motorsport North America.
“We are very proud that the junior program is rapidly expanding this year. We have more and more entries in Carrera Cup North America and Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama, where young talents can see the potential opportunities with our brand.
“Porsche provides a pathway to go from where they are at the moment and allows them to look forward at a clear path with the potential of graduating to a factory drive with the brand.
“We provide these young drivers with financial support and a comprehensive support platform where they can learn from the best, including valuable advice and insight from our junior mentor, Pat Long.”
Part of that support program includes the Porsche Motorsport North America Junior Program annual workshop, where the drivers spend two days “going to school” covering all facets of their career development, including physical fitness, nutrition, technical seminars, engineering, mental development, television and media, social media, personal branding and a deep dive into the history of the Porsche brand.
Junior mentor Patrick Long was one of the “teachers” at last year’s event. Long joined the Porsche family as a junior in 2003 and spent his entire career with the brand, racing in Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, IMSA, FIA WEC, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
His career highlights include two series championships in the American Le Mans Series, and a pair of class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“Seeing the youth and the hunger of the young drivers in Porsche’s North America Junior program, it’s very refreshing,” Long said.
“A great part of Porsche’s DNA has always been about promoting young drivers, getting behind the youth, and giving them a path to accelerate through all the different decisions and outcomes that they have to achieve to become aspiring professionals.
“I’m certainly honored to help these young racers wherever possible – paying back in the same way that so many experienced Porsche stars helped me when I was getting started.”
The EBOOST Porsche Motorsport North America Junior Program “class of 2024” enjoyed highly successful opening weekends in both Porsche Carrera Cup North America and Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama.
MDK Motorsports’ Paul Bocuse started his Sprint Challenge campaign in style, finishing third and second in the opening two rounds recently at Sebring International Raceway. Young French female racer Caroline Candas also scored a pair of second-place finishes in the Cayman class. Next up for Sprint Challenge will be a trip to Alabama’s Barber Motorsport Park on April 26-28.
In Carrera Cup North America, our young racers also shone bright, with Loek Hartog (Kellymoss) and Gustav Burton (MDK Motorsports) both taking race wins at Sebring. Rounds three and four of this year’s Carrera Cup championship will be held at the Miami Formula 1 Grand Prix on May 3-5.
Ex-Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup racer Gustav Burton will go down in the record books as winning a milestone race in the history of the championship – the 50th round of the series which began here at Sebring International Raceway in 2021.
The 21-year-old British/Danish racer started from pole and was never headed throughout the 40-minute journey, with the series racing into darkness for the first time.
The MDK Motorsports recruit, who started on pole for Friday evening’s race, led flag-to-flag in the 40-minute journey, which was disrupted on the opening lap by an incident between JDX Racing’s Madeline Stewart and round one Pro-Am winner, James Sofronas.
At the checkered flag, Burton led Kellymoss’ round one winner Loek Hartog to the finish but the Dutchman was given a ten-second post-race penalty for jumping the start on the restart.
New Zealander Ryan Yardley made it two podiums from two races and three consecutive podiums by finishing second today. After an unlucky season in 2023, Yardley finally scored his first podium in the final round at COTA last year and now has a three-race streak going.
“It’s been a strong start with two good practice sessions, P1 and P2 qualifying, plus a second and a win in the two races – plus we are leading the championship,” said Burton
“It really couldn’t have gone that much better. We still have some work to do as a team. We can’t get complacent. I definitely didn’t have as much pace as Loek did in the closing stages of that race.
“But we’ll debrief and come back stronger in Miami. I have to give a huge thank you to MDK and Mark (Kvamme) for giving me this opportunity – we’re ready to win a championship.”
After dominating qualifying in Pro-am, Alan Metni’s day turned sour when he was forced out on the opening lap on Thursday. The 2022 Pro-am champion bounced back on Friday to take his repaired Kellymoss entry back to victory lane.
The win by Metni also brought an end of James Sofronas’ run of success – the Porsche veteran having won his first three race starts in the class before today.
Completing the Pro-am podium was ACI’s Marco Cirone and Kenton King, who earned his first podium for MDK Motorsports.
The Masters class had Matt Halcome first across the line, but a penalty gave Carlos De Quesada the win ahead of Halcome and Kyle Washington.
The Porsche Carrera Cup North America teams will now set their sights on rounds three and four of the championship at the Miami Formula 1 Grand Prix from May 3-5.
PAGID Racing and Porsche Carrera Cup North America will continue their partnership in 2024, with every competitor in the prestigious one-make championship relying on PAGID Racing’s brake pad technology.
PAGID Racing is the official brake pad partner for Porsche Carrera Cup North America, the 16-round championship for the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup machines that begins this week at Sebring International Raceway. Sebring will be the first time that the Porsche Carrera Cup championship will be conducted at twilight, with the race to finish in darkness providing a spectacular setting to conclude the first round of the championship
PAGID Racing and Porsche Motorsport have a long history dating back to 1986. PAGID brake pad products have been used across multiple generations of 911 GT3 Cup machines and raced in Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and other Carrera Cup championships worldwide.
The PAGID Racing brake pads provide racers with a combination of bite, friction, excellent controllability, and braking modulation.
PAGID Racing is the exclusive motorsport brand of TMD Friction Holdings. With facilities in Leverkusen & Essen (Germany) and Troy (USA), TMD Friction Holdings can quickly develop and manufacture brake friction solutions according to customer-specific technical requirements.
“Porsche Carrera Cup is the most prestigious one-make championship in North America. Our technical and marketing partners must also be at the highest level, and that’s why we have relied on PAGID Racing since the debut of this championship in 2021,” said Volker Holzmeyer, President and CEO, Porsche Motorsport North America.
“Our partnership with PAGID Racing continues to allow the drivers and our customer teams to exploit the full potential of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car on the great circuits of North America, including at three Formula One races in 2024.”
The 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup North America calendar features 16 rounds over eight race weekends. Formula 1 races at Miami, Montreal, and Austin will be a highlight, along with major IMSA races at Sebring, Watkins Glen, Road America, Indianapolis and Road Atlanta.
“PAGID Racing and Porsche have had a long and successful partnership, and we are thrilled to continue that into 2024,” said Matthew Greenman, PAGID Racing, Head of Global Motorsports.
“Braking is a vital part of performance, and that is why PAGID Racing and Porsche have a great partnership. We have worked together for many years to ensure that when our racers press the brake pedal, they can do so with absolute confidence.”
