Michael Valiante

Michael Valiante (born November 11, 1979, in New Westminster, British Columbia) is a Canadian racing driver.

Formula racing

Valiante began racing in karting where his success earned him a full-season scholarship in the Skip Barber 2.0 Series. In his first season, Valiante was both series champion and rookie of the year. Following this success he moved on the Barber Dodge Pro Series and then to the Toyota Atlantic Championship.

Driving for the Lynx Racing team in 2001, Valiante was able to finish eighth in the series championship despite competing in only five events. His performance impressed Lynx enough to sign him for two more seasons. 2002 was Valiante's best year in the series. He won three races and led the points going into the final round in Denver, only to struggle in the race and lose the championship to Jon Fogarty. Valiante led the series early in 2003. However, his championship hopes were dashed when he missed the fourth round at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca due to an illness. He went on to finish third in the championship and again scored three victories.

Valiante was set to make his debut in Champ Car at California Speedway in 2003, but the race was cancelled due to wildfires in the area. It was not until a year later that he made his first Champ Car start in Mexico City. His second start came at Portland in 2005 as a one-off drive for Dale Coyne Racing. He was not able to secure a full-time ride in the series due to his lack of financial backing.

Sports car racing

In 2006, Valiante competed full-time with Finlay motorsports in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, where he and co-driver Rob Finlay finished ninth in the final standings. In 2008 he switched to SunTrust Racing to partner Max Angelelli in a DP class Dallara Pontiac, winning at Sonoma.

The Canadian joined Michael Shank Racing for the 2009 Rolex Sports Car Series. Driving a Riley Ford with John Pew as co-driver, he collected two podiums and resulted seventh in the DP drivers standings. In 2010 he partnered Brian Frisselle at the Shank team. With a best result of third, he finished ninth in the standings.

In 2012 he alternated between the Rolex Sports Car Series and American Le Mans Series. He started five Rolex races, winning at Mid-Ohio with teammate Richard Westbrook. In ALMS he competed in five rounds with JDX Racing in the GTC class, collecting three third-place finishes.

The driver returned to Michael Shank Racing for the 2013 Rolex Sports Car Series, having John Pew has teammate during most races. He collected two second-place finishes and resulted 15th in the DP standings.

In 2014, Valiante moved to Spirit of Daytona to race at the merged United SportsCar Championship.[1] in the Spirit of Daytona Corvette Daytona Prototype with Richard Westbrook and Mike Rockenfeller.

Stock car racing

In 2007, Valiante made a NASCAR Busch Series start driving the No. 42 Dodge from Chip Ganassi Racing at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Valiante started 21st and finished 34th.


Motorsports career results

Complete American open-wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Barber Dodge Pro Series

Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points
1999 SEB
3
NAZ
15
LRP
8
POR
22
CLE
2
ROA DET
18
MDO
4
GRA
5
LS
19
HMS
7
WGI
8
10th 79
2000 SEB
2
MIA
11
NAZ
4
LRP
18
DET
26
CLE
10
MDO
9
ROA
7
VAN
17
LS
6
RAT
1
HMS
6
6th 97

Atlantic Championship

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points
2001 Lynx Racing LBH
4
NAZ MIL MTL
2
CLE TOR
6
CHI TRR
4
ROA VAN
2
HOU LS 9th 64
2002 Lynx Racing MTY
4
LBH
1
MIL
7
LS
5
POR
9
CHI
3
TOR
1
CLE
4
TRR
1
ROA
4
MTL
7
DEN
12
2nd 150
2003 Lynx Racing MTY
1
LBH
4
MIL
11
LS
Wth
POR
3
CLE
4
TOR
4
TRR
3
MDO
1
MTL
4
DEN
2
MIA
1
3rd 161

Champ Car World Series

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rank Points
2004 Walker Racing Reynard 02i Ford XFE V8t LBH MTY MIL POR CLE TOR VAN ROA DEN MTL LS LVS SRF MXC
14
23rd 7
2005 Dale Coyne Racing Lola B02/00 Ford XFE V8t LBH MTY MIL POR
11
CLE TOR EDM SJO DEN MTL LVS SRF MXC 25th 10

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Busch Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 NBSC Pts
2007 Chip Ganassi Racing 42 Dodge DAY CAL MXC LVS ATL BRI NSH TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW NHA DAY CHI GTY IRP CGV
34
GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM 140th 61

24 Hours of Daytona results

Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2005 Ten Motorsports Memo Gidley
Michael McDowell
Jonathan Bomarito
Riley Mk. XI-BMW DP 465 42nd
DNF
19th
DNF
2006 Finlay Motorsports Rob Finlay
Bryan Herta
Buddy Rice
Crawford DP03-Ford DP 684 11th 9th
2007 Finlay Motorsports Rob Finlay
Bobby Labonte
Michael McDowell
Crawford DP03-Ford DP 627 10th
DNF
10th
DNF
2008 SunTrust Racing Wayne Taylor
Ricky Taylor
Max Angelelli
Riley Mk. XI-Pontiac DP 687 5th 5th
2009 Michael Shank Racing Ian James
A. J. Allmendinger
John Pew
Riley Mk. XX-Ford DP 153 47th
DNF
19th
DNF
2010 Michael Shank Racing A. J. Allmendinger
Brian Frisselle
Mark Patterson
Riley Mk. XI-Ford DP 707 7th
DNF
7th
DNF
2011 Michael Shank Racing John Pew
Oswaldo Negri
Marc Goossens
Riley Mk. XX-Ford DP 706 10th 10th
2012 Starworks Motorsport Marco Andretti
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Scott Mayer
Riley Mk. XX-Ford DP 736 10th 10th
2013 Michael Shank Racing Chris Cumming
Jorge Goncalvez
Gustavo Yacamán
Riley Mk. XXVI-Ford DP 508 41st
DNF
13th
DNF
2014 Spirit of Daytona Racing Richard Westbrook
Mike Rockenfeller
Coyote Corvette DP P 693 4th 4th
2015 VisitFlorida.com Racing Richard Westbrook
Mike Rockenfeller
Coyote Corvette DP P 734 3rd 3rd

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class)

Year Team Class Make Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rank Points
2014 Spirit of Daytona Racing P Coyote Corvette DP Chevrolet 5.5L V8 DAY
4
SEB
10
LBH
5
LGA
5
DET
2
WGL
1
MOS
2
IMS
3
ELK
4
COA
6
PET
7
3rd 318
2015 VisitFlorida.com Racing P Coyote Corvette DP Chevrolet 5.5L V8 DAY
3
SEB
3
LBH
3
LGA
1
DET
5
WGL
1
MOS
4
ELK
5
COA
3
PET
5
2nd 306

See also

List of Canadians in Champ Car

References

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