🇨🇦 Michael Valiante

Michael Valiante was an established professional racing driver competing in North American endurance and single-seater series. Graded Silver by the FIA, he raced primarily in IMSA WeatherTech, the national multiclass endurance championship in which two or more drivers share each car across long races. He drove for visitflorida.com Racing and Spirit Of Daytona during his indexed career from 2006 to 2015.[1]

Valiante took the 2015 IMSA WeatherTech championship with visitflorida.com Racing, winning three races and taking ten podiums across 21 starts in the series between 2014 and 2015. His earlier career included a single NASCAR Xfinity start for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2007 and five SuperNationals starts in national kart championships between 2006 and 2012. He finished ahead of Kyle Larson, now an elite professional and two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, once during his IMSA tenure.[2]

In IMSA, he regularly raced against Scott Pruett, a professional-level driver and fellow Silver-graded endurance competitor, and traded results with him across multiple encounters. He also finished ahead of Joel Miller, an entry-level professional and recent Lamborghini Super Trofeo champion, in their shared IMSA races. Spirit Of Daytona, the team he drove for most frequently with 11 starts, proved his strongest platform; he was the team's fastest driver across the index, accounting for the bulk of its competitive results.