Sonny Canatella

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name = Sonny Canatella


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nationality = flagicon|US American
date of birth = Birth date and age|1986|7|29
place of birth = Shreveport, Louisiana
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current team = Canatella Auto Racing
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Sonny Canatella (born July 29, 1986) is an American racecar driver.

Biography

Early life and education

Sonny Anthony Canatella was born July 29, 1986 in Shreveport, Louisiana to Ted Anthony Canatella and Pamela Marie Canatella. His great-grandparents emigrated from Palermo, Italy and initially settled in Convent, Louisiana. The Canatella family owns several car dealerships in northwest Louisiana. [dioshpt.org/parishdocs/stcatherine/OnlineDocs/bulletin_Nov25_07.pdf]

At an early age, Sonny showed particular interest in cars and racing. Ted bought Sonny his first go-kart at the age of three and he quickly began to excel in racing them.

He graduated from Loyola College Prep in 2004 and continued his education at Louisiana Tech University, where he is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Racing career

Once Sonny turned fifteen, which was the minimum age requirement to race full size cars, they built him a street stock to move to the next phase of his racing career. His first year in the street stock class, he had several top ten and top five finishes which earned him the title of Rookie of The Year. After this first season the Canatella Auto Racing team was in full stride.

During the team's second year, the class was changed to the Outlaw Southern Stock Car class. They competed in the southern stock division for two seasons. In those two seasons they won numerous races some of which were large prestigious events. The team amassed countless victories including the Louisiana State Dirt Track Championship, the Royal Purple Dash for cash, the Louisiana State Championship Quick six race, the Northwest Louisiana Championship, the Hot Chassis Track Championship, as well as over 30 race victories including fourteen in a row. In their first year of competition in the southern stock division they won the Frontstretch Radio Show Ark-La-Tex rookie of the year award, and they were featured live on the radio program to accept the honors. Furthermore the radio show selected them to accept the driver of the week award three times during their two seasons in the southern stock division, all of which resulted in live interviews on the radio.

Sonny also earned the KTBS Athlete of the Week award for his performance on the track as well as his success in the classroom. They interviewed Sonny at his race shop, and put together a feature presentation that included the personal interview and various clips of on track performance. He accepted this award live on the KTBS six o’clock news following the presentation.

Upon completion of their second full season in the southern stock division, they decided to move up to the top racing level in the area. The team entered into IMCA Modified class, which is the largest sanctioned racing division on dirt in the United States. This type of racing is one of the most competitive and challenging forms of motor sports that demands total concentration, and endless physical labor. During their first year in the modified division they won numerous heat races. They also made the field in some rather large events their first year, including the Ark-La-Tex championship. Additionally the team posted a seventh place finish in the Ark-La-Tex speedway over all points, which was the highest finish for a rookie that year. Sonny enjoyed much of the same success in their second year of modified racing, winning numerous heat races and making several large events. Sonny made the field in events including the Turkey Nationals at Boothill Speedway, the Piney Woods Classic at Thunder Mountain Speedway, and the Ark-La-Tex Speedway championship, along with several others. Additionally they posted a tenth place finish in overall points, which was very rewarding since the second half of the season they were faced with an abnormal amount of bad luck, none of which they could control. The team has earned countless wins and accolades since beginning racing in the modified class. The 2008 season is poised to be the best yet, they have a new one of a kind car and look forward to what the season holds.
[Sonny Canatella of Greenwood, Louisiana drove a TRE Chassis to his first Modified win ever at Sabine Motor Speedway Friday night, May 4th. He beat a talented 10-car field too and beat them handily as a matter of fact. Dustin Hyde won out in a good battle to grab second and make it a one-two TRE sweep. Billy Melton, Jr. drove his Shaw from the third row up to second for a while but ended up third. Casey Jordan brought his Dirt Works home fourth and Jeff Huckaby rounded out the top five. Chris Shown of Hooks, TX won a heat tonight and ran second in the feature before a push let about 6 cars go by.] [Sonny Canatella wins first at Sabine! TREs 1-2!] [cite news |first=J M |last=Hallas |title=Pro Cuts TX World Dirt Track Championship at TMS Dirt Track, Saturday Recap |url=http://txsz.com/article905 |date=2007-03-04 |work=Texas Speedzone |quote=In C-qualifier #2, J P Dowell was first into turn 1 to get lead from the pole. As the top four sorted out single file, the rest of the pack were bumping and banging, two and three wide. Yellow waved on lap 2 when Jeremy Chambers, Sonny Canatella, Travis Penrod and Erik Scott got together in turn 4. on the restart John Allen got by Grant Junghans for second. ]

[www.whowon.com/Results.asp?TrackID=1257&StoryID=86589] [www.arklatexspeedway.net/Results/2007Results/09-08-07results.htm]

References

External links

* [http://canatella-racing.tripod.com/index.html Canatella Auto Racing]