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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 Ref
2004 Walker Racing Reynard 02i Ford XFE V8 t LBH MTY MIL POR CLE TOR VAN ROA DEN MTL LS LVS SRF MXC
14 		23rd 7 [2]
2005 Dale Coyne Racing Lola B02/00 Ford XFE V8 t LBH MTY MIL POR
11 		CLE TOR EDM SJO DEN MTL LVS SRF MXC 25th 10 [3]

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 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 CGV
34 		GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM 140th 61 [4]

24 Hours of Daytona results

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

External links

References

  1. ^ theCheckeredFlag.co.uk
  2. ^ "Michael Valiante – 2004 Champ Car World Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  3. ^ "Michael Valiante – 2005 Champ Car World Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  4. ^ "Michael Valiante – 2007 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
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