Michael Valiante (born November 11, 1979, in

New Westminster, British Columbia New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capita ...

) 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 Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, 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 Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for sponsorship reasons) is a paved Racing track#Motorsport, road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and Motorcyc ...

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 Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., a Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing T ...

California Speedway Auto Club Speedway (known as California Speedway before and after the 2008–2023 corporate sponsorship by the Automobile Club of Southern California) was a , D-shaped oval superspeedway in unincorporated San Bernardino County, California, ne ...

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 Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. His second start came at

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

in 2005 as a one-off drive for

Dale Coyne Racing Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) is an American professional open-wheel racing team that currently competes in the IndyCar Series and Indy NXT. The team was founded in 1984 and is owned by former driver Dale Coyne. From 1995 to 2000, the team was known ...

. 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 Grand-Am Road Racing or Grand-Am was an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America. Its primary focus was the Rolex Sports Car Series, an endurance racing championship series. I ...

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

, where he and co-driver

Rob Finlay Rob or ROB may refer to: Places * Rob, Velike Lašče, a settlement in Slovenia * Republic of Belarus People * Rob (given name), a given name or nickname, e.g., for Robert(o), Robin/Robyn * Rob (surname) * ''Rob.'', taxonomic author abbreviat ...

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 John Pew (born April 1, 1956 in Grand Rapids, Michigan) is an American racing driver, who competes in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series for Michael Shank Racing. He won the 2012 24 Hours of Daytona overall in the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing ...

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 Richard Westbrook (born 10 July 1975) is a British professional racing driver noted for his success in racing Porsche and International sports cars. As a junior, he attended St Joseph's College, Ipswich. He has won both the Porsche Supercup in ...

. 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 The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association ( ...

.theCheckeredFlag.co.uk
/ref> in the Spirit of Daytona Corvette

Daytona Prototype A Daytona Prototype was a type of sports prototype racing car developed specifically for the Grand-Am Road Racing, Grand American Road Racing Association's Rolex Sports Car Series as their top class of car, which replaced their main prototype rac ...

with

and

Mike Rockenfeller Mike Rockenfeller (born 31 October 1983), nicknamed "Rocky", is a German professional racing driver and was an Audi factory driver competing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, DTM and the FIA World Endurance Championship. He won his first DTM ...

Stock car racing

In 2007, Valiante made a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

start driving the No. 42

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence, Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

from

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization competing in the NTT IndyCar Series. They have formerly competed in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, Global Rally ...

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, also spelled ''Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve'' (), is a motor racing Race track, circuit on Notre Dame Island in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the venue for the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Form ...

. 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

Atlantic Championship

Champ Car World Series

NASCAR

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

Busch Series

24 Hours of Daytona results

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

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

External links

Official site
* *
Michael Valiante at Race Database

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valiante, Michael 1979 births Living people Racing drivers from British Columbia Canadian racing drivers Champ Car drivers NASCAR drivers Atlantic Championship drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Barber Pro Series drivers Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Walker Racing drivers Dale Coyne Racing drivers Meyer Shank Racing drivers Wayne Taylor Racing drivers Starworks Motorsport drivers Michelin Pilot Challenge drivers Sportspeople from New Westminster