ACI Motorsports claimed a milestone victory at the Miami Grand Prix, earning their first-ever win in the Pro class of Porsche Carrera Cup North America.
While the team has previously celebrated success in the Pro-Am and Masters categories, this marks a significant step forward for the program — breaking through at the top level of competition with a standout performance from driver Yves Baltas, who swept both races of the weekend.
Year after year, ACI Motorsports has raised the bar — growing stronger, faster, and more formidable with every season.
In 2025, that momentum shows no signs of slowing down. The team is bigger, sharper, and more focused than ever, ready to take on the competition at full throttle.
“When you look at where the team has come from, it’s been a steady journey over the past few years — every season, we’ve just kept growing, getting stronger, bringing in the right people to help us give both our Pro and Am drivers the best cars possible,” team owner, Curt Swearingin said.
“Miami really showed that. We had strong pace in both classes and ran at the front across the board. Getting two wins in the Pro class — our first ever for ACI — is huge.
“It’s a little bittersweet because of the penalties and some of the contact that happened across the races, but overall, it was a great weekend and a big step forward for the team.”
Sunday’s second race was an ACI domination at the front. Jimmy Llibre was actually first across the line but incurred a 10-second penalty for track limits violations.
ACI Motorsports is fielding a formidable six-car lineup across all three competition classes in 2024. In the Pro class alongside Baltas and Llibre, John Jodoin joins the squad for the ANDIAL Cup rounds.
The Pro-Am class features Sebring double-winner Juan Pablo Martinez and the returning Marco Cirone, while Richard Edge competes in the Masters class.
It’s also no surprise to followers of ACI Motorsports or friends of owner, Curt Swearingin, that the team returns with its long-time manufacturer partner, Porsche. The two entities have been affiliated officially on the racetrack in Porsche Carrera Cup North America, Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama, Pirelli GT4 America, and GT World Challenge America, but Swearingin’s relationship with the marque dates back even further.
“I like all cars, but in the end, I’m just a Porsche guy,” said Swearingin.
“All my street cars are Porsche, I don’t have other brands of cars, other than what my kids drive… so we pretty much are a Porsche family. All my race cars are Porsches. I just never really have considered anything else because all I’ve ever done is have Porsches at the track.
“I like the fit and feel of a Porsche, no matter which one I get in. I feel at home because I’ve driven so many over the years for so long.”
Split between shops in Braselton, Georgia, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, ACI Motorsports has its eyes on Porsche Carrera Cup North America and Pirelli GT4 America for 2025. While the former series sees drivers take on solo efforts, Swearingin’s latter entry welcomes past Carrera Cup champion Riley Dickinson as a co-driver and also for his debut in the SRO paddock.
The team’s second car features former Porsche Sprint Challenge North America racer Dan Sibille with Dutch former Carrera Cup aces Loek Hartog and Kay van Berlo splitting the co-driving duties. Van Berlo is filling in for his fellow Dutchman at a number of rounds despite officially “retiring” to concentrate on his business career after his championship success last year.
“Kay being the dedicated person that he is, I wasn’t surprised by his retirement and going to live his dream in a different way,” said Swearingin.
“When Kay let me know he was going to be doing that, we consulted with him on the guys we were looking to replace him. We all put our heads together, and it was a pretty easy choice.”
As easily as Swearingin speaks about Dickinson joining the team, he speaks even sweeter about why he and ACI Motorsports choose Porsche year after year.
Swearingin sees the value of Porsche from various angles, not only as a driver – his own experience dates back to PCA Trophy East and Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge – but also as a businessman.
“The platform, as far as a racecar, it’s probably the best value per car out there,” said Swearingin.
“Just the platform itself is what, to me, makes this an attractive series, and it being a one-make series. I always like to see where I stand as a driver. I think a one-make series really helps with that, since the cars are always so much more equal versus racing a bunch of other brands.
“It’s like, ‘If so-and-so can do it, I should be able to do it.’ Versus, if you’re racing and it’s multiple different brands, they’re going to make the power different, they’re going to make the corner speed different. I think it’s really good for driver development. I think we’ve seen that, especially with the young guns who have come out of the series the past few years.”
Including Dickinson.
Having Dickinson’s successful experience with Porsche, in addition to van Berlo – a past 24 Hours of Daytona winner – setting expectations, the lap times and goals have never been clearer.
“That’s always a benefit for an Am or a Pro-Am to take a look at the data from a Pro having been in the car,” said Swearingin, who also credited former coaches Parker Thompson and Elliott Skeer.
“Even before we had Pros running under our tent, we were just Am and Pro-Am, and we always had a benchmark. We’ve always had them in the car to get the data from to chase it. But having it full-time now with Pro drivers on our team, I think really helps our Pro-Am and Masters.”
