The Duo Will Drive the No. 26 Mercedes-AMG GT3 on the Famed Street Circuit
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Steven Aghakhani, Jacob Eidson and US RaceTronics have raced together in other series. Now they are making the move to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship together, and in one of the highlight races on the schedule.
US RaceTronics is entering the No. 26 Mercedes-AMG GT3 for Aghakhani and Eidson to drive in the GT Daytona (GTD) class at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sept. 25. With support from the Global Wealth Solutions Group of Raymond James, the 18-year-old Aghakhani will make his first WeatherTech Championship start in his hometown race on the famous Southern California street circuit.
“It is an honor to be representing Raymond James,” Aghakhani said. “Growing up in Los Angeles, it was always the Lakers and the Long Beach Grand Prix for me. I always dreamed of being able to race at Long Beach, which is the oldest and greatest street race in North America. I have to thank a long list of people and great partners who came together to make it happen this year.”
Aghakhani and Eidson, 26, are competing in their second season together for US RaceTronics in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series also sanctioned by IMSA. They teamed to win four races and finish second in the Pro class last year, missing out on the championship by three points. They are third in this year’s standings, 11 points from the lead with four races remaining.
Aghakhani debuted in Lamborghini Super Trofeo two years ago at age 16, winning five times in the Am class and finishing a single point shy of the championship. That same year, Eidson and co-driver Darren Ockey won 11 of 12 ProAm races and walked away with the class title.
The Long Beach race will also mark the WeatherTech Championship debut for US RaceTronics. Eidson’s lone previous series start came at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen in 2019.
“All of us at Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing look forward to working with Steven Aghakhani and the US RaceTronics team in their Long Beach and IMSA WeatherTech Championship GTD debuts,” said Stefan Wendl, Head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing. “While these are new and exciting developments for Steven and his teammates, they bring with them a great deal of experience with the Mercedes-AMG GT3.
“We have known Steven very well since he started racing a Mercedes-AMG GT3 at just 15 and 16 years (old) in both SRO GT World Challenge and the SRO Winter Invitational series. Moving to IMSA GTD at Long Beach is his biggest step yet, and I wish Steven, his co-driver Eidson and the USRT team the best of luck with this iconic challenge.”
The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach airs live at 5 p.m. ET Saturday, Sept. 25 on NBCSN.