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.

Valiante 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, Valiante 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.

Valiante 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. 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

Atlantic Championship

Champ Car World Series Year Team No. Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rank Points Ref 2004 Walker Racing 15 Reynard 02i Ford XFE V8tLBHMTYMILPORCLETORVANROADENMTLLSLVSSRFMXC14 23rd 7 2005 Dale Coyne Racing 19 Lola B02/00 Ford XFE V8tLBHMTYMILPOR11CLETOREDMSJODENMTLLVSSRFMXC 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 Pts Ref 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 CGV34 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 2005 Ten Motorsports Memo Gidley Michael McDowell Jonathan Bomarito Riley Mk. XI-BMW DP 465 42ndDNF 19thDNF 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 10thDNF 10thDNF 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 47thDNF 19thDNF 2010 Michael Shank Racing A. J. Allmendinger Brian Frisselle Mark Patterson Riley Mk. XI-Ford DP 707 7thDNF 7thDNF 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 41stDNF 13thDNF 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 7343rd3rd

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class)