Looking to return to the team’s winning ways, Spirit of Daytona Racing has signed Michael Valiante to race for the team in the full 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship campaign.
Spirit of Daytona Racing was the first to take to the track with the all-new Corvette DP in 2012, bringing the iconic American nameplate its first victory with a pole-and-win weekend at Barber Motorsports Park in the second race of the year. Spirit of Daytona Racing went on to lead over 300 laps and score three overall victories in 2012, including a win with with Valiante and Richard Westbrook at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
“Michael did a great job for us in 2012, and we are really excited for him to race with us full-time next season,” said team owner Troy Flis. “I think having him back, as well as with some of the changes we are looking at for our program, we should not only come out of the box much stronger, but we will hopefully be able to develop a championship-contending campaign with our VisitFlorida.com Corvette DP. New tracks, new rules, new races–there are a ton of new challenges for us to adjust to this year and we want to be in a position to maximize our opportunity.”
Valiante added to his Corvette DP experience in 2013, scoring two podium finishes with the Bow Tie including a run to second place at Mid-Ohio. The Canadian has Daytona Prototype history stretching back to 2005, and is looking forward to putting his experience to work as the future beckons.
“I’m really happy to have the full-season program already in place and to be coming back to Spirit of Daytona Racing,” said Valiante, who has also proven himself a winner in IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competition. “Testing with our Corvette DP is just a couple of weeks away now, and there is a lot of work to be done. So it is a good feeling to have our plans in place, and to be able to now focus on what we need to do to be ready to go at Daytona in January.”
Spirit of Daytona Racing will make additional announcements about the team’s 2014 program, including driver line up and marketing partners in the coming weeks.