After clinching the 2024 Pirelli GT4 America Pro-Am championship last year alongside Kay van Berlo, Curt Swearingin entered the 2025 season with a target on his back. Now, as he prepares for the final rounds at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he finds himself back in contention, just four points shy of repeating as class champion.
“It would be nice to go back-to-back, that’s the goal,” Swearingin said. “Now that we have closed the gap and gotten right back into the title mix at the end of the season, we’re really excited to try to get it done.”
Although he admitted that the road to this finale hasn’t always been completely smooth sailing, he is enjoying the process nonetheless. This year, Swearingin teamed up with Riley Dickinson for the 2025 season, and the duo faced early challenges as they worked to find their rhythm in a highly competitive field.
“We started off the year a little rough compared to where we left off from the previous year with Kay,” Swearingin explained. “We both made a few mistakes, but we put our heads down and got into a flow that has seen us bounce back from it and get ourselves back in the championship picture. It’s been super fun, Riley is a super talented guy, just like all the pros in the paddock.”
Consistency and perseverance have been the key to bringing back their No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport back to the sharp end of the standings. With a string of late-season wins reigniting their title hopes, Swearingin feels more confident than ever heading into rounds 12 and 13 at Indy.
“The recent wins definitely increase the level of confidence,” he stated. “This time we’re on the attack from second in the standings, which I actually like better than last year’s situation. There was a lot of pressure at the end in 2024 because we could have wrapped it up at Barber and didn’t. This year’s different since we’re chasing and not defending, which has actually made it more relaxed and enjoyable.”
For the final rounds, Swearingin will share the car with sports car veteran Jan Heylen, who steps in for Dickinson due to a scheduling conflict. To say that Heylen is bringing a wealth of experience and winning caliber to the team would certainly be an understatement, with the Belgian also pulling double duty this weekend between Pirelli GT4 America and GT World Challenge America for the Indy 8 Hour.
“It’s been good working with Jan,” Swearingin shared. “He’s super smart, super talented, and just a really good guy. We’ve had a couple debriefs between sessions, even with his busy schedule, and it was nice to be able to bring somebody like him in who is a quality competitor. Riley, Kay, our engineer, and I all talked about it beforehand, and we all agreed that Jan was the guy to have with us at ACI Motorsports this weekend.”
Equipped with his trademark calm and composed demeanor, Swearingin is approaching the season finale with the mindset of remaining focused yet unfazed. The opportunity to fight for another championship on one of motorsport’s most iconic venues only adds to the motivation.
“I’d be happy to wrap up the championship at any track, not going to lie,” he said with a smile. “But it’s very cool to be able to do it here.”
As the Pirelli GT4 America season comes to a close in just a couple more days, Curt Swearingin once again finds himself in familiar territory as he fights for another title at the Brickyard. Only this time, he’s relishing the chase.