ACI Motorsports Continues Winning Ways at Road America With USAC Porsche Sprint Challenge West Triple Sweep

Completing Saturday’s solid ACI podium presence was Muzaffar Gafurov, who joined Pratt on the rostrum with third place finishes both overall and in Pro-Am in his No. 200 ACI Motorsports Porsche 911 Cup. Additionally, Herback’s victory sealed a weekend win sweep of his own after also scoring Cayman class honors in Friday’s opening USA West race.

Saturday’s triple followed the record-setting IMSA Porsche Carrera Cup North America triple sweep a trio of ACI Motorsports teams and drivers recorded at Watkins Glen International in late June. Emerging driving talent Janne Stiak broke through for his first U.S. race win in the No. 40 ACI Motorsports Porsche 911 Cup. Pro-Am division championship leader Patrick Mulcahy captured the victory in that class in the No. 54 ACI Motorsports Porsche 911 Cup while Smith – who joins Pratt in racing ACI Porsches in both Carrera Cup and Pro-Am – took the Masters class win in the No. 74 ACI Motorsports Porsche 911 Cup. The Glen triple win sweep was the first for a team in the history of the Carrera Cup North America series.

Smith closed out his weekend strong actually driving a borrowed 911 Cup car ACI arranged from Kellymoss after his primary mount to start the weekend was sidelined in a practice incident. Smith not only won the Masters race in USA West in the loaner but also charged to third in the Masters division – and a stout 14th overall – in Saturday’s North America 911 Cup finale.

Smith also joined top Porsche driver Yves Baltas in the No. 274 as the lone ACI Motorsports entry in Sunday’s featured Porsche Endurance Challenge North America 100-minute race. A pair of penalties negated the promise shown early where Smith qualified sixth in 911 Cup Pro-Am and climbed as high as fourth in his opening stint.

Curt Swearingin, ACI Motorsports Team Principal: “It’s really cool to be the first team in history to earn a triple clean sweep in Carrera Cup North America. I don’t know about overseas, but for us to achieve this in North America with so many big teams in this paddock that have been doing this for 25 years or more is really a great accomplishment on our part. We have been in competition for less than 10 years, so to be the only ones to do it in single race is a nice achievement. I didn’t know that it was history making at the time, but Porsche came to us and told us the good news. Now, to do it again in Porsche Sprint Challenge West is very nice. Carrera Cup is obviously a little more intense, but anytime you can take all of the class wins and the overall in any racing series, you have accomplished something. All of the ACI Motorsports drivers drove great this weekend, and I am glad they had some results to show for it. I was really impressed with Alex’s driving Saturday for the overall win. Friday was the first time he had ever started on pole and then he had a great start from another pole on Saturday. He put time on the competition and managed the gap for the rest of the race. Greg also had a great sweep in the Cayman class in USA West, and it was great to see Matt come up with a victory too on Saturday morning. I am really proud of the entire ACI Motorsports team and all of our drivers for a truly no-quit weekend.”

Matt Smith, Driver – No. 274 ACI Motorsports Porsche 911 Cup: “I can’t say enough about how amazing this team is. We had a little bit of an issue in practice two, tubbed the car, and thanks to ACI and Kellymoss too for chipping in to get us a loaner car. We got it just about 20 minutes before Friday’s first race, but the ACI team was just magic in motion. They put me out there, it was pretty awesome, and they gave me a heck of a race car. It was such a lift to get that off of my shoulders. Obviously, I was a little bit upset over what had occurred, so I was happy to get that done. The level of expertise, care and attention to detail that the team, from top to bottom, puts into everything can be seen in the results on track. Very professional and the level of engineering is just top notch. You can see it in the results.”