No. 74 ACI Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Debuts in 2027 GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS with Full-Season Pro-Am Campaign with Co-Drivers Matt Smith and Yves Baltas
Championship winning sports car racing team ACI Motorsports returns to SRO GT World Challenge America powered by AWS in 2027 with a full-season Pro-Am class campaign for team drivers Matt Smith and Yves Baltas.
The announcement was made today by ACI Motorsports team owner Curt Swearingin, Baltas and representatives from Mercedes-AMG Motorsport in a press conference at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), where the 2026 season-ending rounds of GT World Challenge America and the Intercontinental GT Challenge will be run in Saturday's Indianapolis 8 Hour.
Both Smith and Baltas are current and race winning competitors with ACI Motorsports. Smith was part of the history making triple sweep of all IMSA Carrera Cup North America classes by ACI Motorsports in June at Watkins Glen International where he was victorious in the Masters Class.
Baltas, who is also a professional driver coach for ACI Motorsports, hit victory lane just two weeks ago in the SRO Pirelli GT4 America race at Barber Motorsports Park where he co-drove with Trenton Estep in the No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche Cayman GT4 RS.
With past experience in a first generation Mercedes-AMG GT3 at track days and in entry-level racing series, Smith joined ACI in pursuing a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to take a step up to top-tier GT3 competition and continue their mutual growth and progress in North American sports car racing.
Baltas, 24, has been dedicated to racing for more than the last 10 years, including moving to Europe as a 14-year-old to pursue his career. He eventually made his way back to the U.S. where he found a home in primarily single make Porsche racing series with ACI, giving the team its first Pro class wins in Carrera Cup competition.
The Chattanooga, Tennessee based ACI Motorsports team previously raced in GT World Challenge in 2023 but a season later shifted its focus to the current programs in Pirelli GT4 America and the various single-make Porsche championships in North America. All will continue next year - including Pirelli GT4 that wraps up its 2026 season this weekend at Indianapolis - as ACI Motorsports adds the top tier GT World Challenge America campaign with Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing.
Preliminary plans call for ACI to test with its Mercedes-AMG GT3 this year still as preparations for next season begin just after the checkered flag falls on this Sunday's final Pirelli GT4 race of the year.
Curt Swearingin, ACI Motorsports Team Principal: "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. 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."
Matt Smith, Driver - No. 74 ACI Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: "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."
Yves Baltas, Driver - No. 74 ACI Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: "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."
Stefan Wendl, Head of Customer Racing, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport: “We are happy to welcome ACI Motorsports to the World's Fastest Family. 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."
ACI Motorsports: ACI Motorsports is a professional Porsche racing team and motorsports preparation shop headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with additional operations at Road Atlanta in Georgia. The team actively competes in several prestigious racing series, including Porsche Carrera Cup North America, SRO Pirelli GT4, GT America Powered by AWS and more. Additional information can be found at www.acimotorsports.com.