Burnaby motor sports driver Michael Valiante will have a busy season of racing.
Valiante was an 11th-hour replacement for Starworks Racing at the 24-hour at Daytona at the beginning of the year.
There, Valiante raced to the lead and helped hold it for six hours before a flat tire ended the team's day.
"It kept my name out there," said Valiante.
It also led to a handful of other opportunities after Valiante's contract to race with Michael Shank Racing was not renewed last year.
The 32-year-old former openwheel racer now finds himself juggling rides in three separate sports cars series this season, including a seat with the Spirit of Daytona team in the Grand American Daytona Prototype series race this weekend in New Jersey.
Valiante began the season racing for the Honda of America team in the front-wheel-drive Grand Am Continental Tire series.
He also got a ride with Porsche on the JDX Racing team, where he has earned one pole and finished third at Long Beach in the American Le Mans Series to date.
All three contracts are singleseason commitments.
Valiante will drive a Chevrolet Corvette sports car in the Global Barter 250 at the New Jersey Motorsports Park and drive in three other races in Detroit, Mid-Ohio and Montreal this season.
Since 2008, Valiante has proved his skills in Grand Am, capturing three poles, four podiums and two secondplace finishes with Sun Trust Racing.
He also had four top-five finishes with Michael Shank Racing, including two podiums and four fastest laps in the DP series.
Last year, Valiante started the MV Motorsporst Driver Development program.
"My schedule is pretty full," Valiante said, citing weekend conflicts in the various series as one drawback.
The two Grand Am eries conveniently run t the same track. But the e Mans series creates potential conflict with hree of the remaining eight races.
But Valiante believes the full schedule will only further help his motorsports career.
"The more you can drive with other teams, you never know where it's going to lead you and you want to take as many as you can," he said. "It's amazing how much I've had to travel this season."
Valiante will also team with SDR British teammate Richard Westbrook at the Chevrolet Grand Am 200 in Detroit on June 1 and 2 and at the EMCO Gears Classic the following weekend in Lexington, Ohio.
In August, Valiante will race his final event on the Rolex Series schedule at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.
