September 16, 2005
Valiante At The Glen
Michael will co-drive for Finlay Motorsports Daytona Prototype at the upcoming Crown Royal 250 Rolex Series at Watkins Glen.
Finlay Motorsports today announced that Canadian racing star Michael Valiante will co-drive the team’s #19 Air Force Reserve/Make-A-Wish Foundation Daytona Prototype with regular driver Memo Gidley at the upcoming Crown Royal 250 at Watkins Glen, September 22 – 24.
Michael will be filling in for regular driver Michael McDowell who is serving a one-race suspension. This is Michael’s third race with the Finlay Motorsports team; he co-drove with McDowell, Gidley and Jonathan Bomarito in the series-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, and when Gidley had a schedule conflict earlier this season, Valiante stepped in to co-drive with McDowell. He qualified the car 7th on the grid and led 22 of the race’s 84 laps on the way to a 7th place finish at the Ferrari/Maserati 400 at California Speedway on April 3.
“I’m very happy to be driving for the Finlay team again, although I’m sorry for the way it came about,” said Valiante, 25, of Vancouver, B.C. “Finlay Motorsports is a top team that fields a very classy, professional effort, and it’s a pleasure to drive their car. I know Steve and Rick Cameron, the team manager and engineer, very well from my two-and-a-half years with them in the Atlantic series, so I should be able to get up to speed very quickly. I also have tremendous respect for Memo Gidley’s abilities and am confident that he and I will be able to maintain Finlay Motorsports’ front-running record in the Rolex Series.”