Patrick Dempsey: A Racing Journey

"Mr. Dempsey, are you serious about racing in the World Endurance Championship?" Those words, coming from the WEC chief steward, almost made me laugh. Fortunately, despite my jet-lagged state, I managed to contain my humorous view of both the question and the situation, and simply answered, "Yes sir."

The reason I was called to the "principal's" office: I missed the mandatory driver's meeting as well as the first practice session for the 2015 WEC opener at Silverstone. And the reason for that? I was filming my last day as Dr. Derrick Shepard in Grey's Anatomy on location in Seattle. I think most people would look at leaving a hit TV show (not fired, contrary to the media feeding frenzy) as demonstration of serious intent...

It's been quite the journey to get on the WEC grid as part of the Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche team. I grew up a race fan, and still remember listening to the Indy 500 on the radio in the back of the family car. My dad loved racing and taught me to love it, too.

At a young age, my competitive fire was stoked on ski racing in my home town in Maine. I had enough determination and drive to win a state slalom championship.

It was the day-to-day preparation necessary to be a successful competitor that drew me in. I remember reading as a kid about a ski racer who worked on balance by riding a unicycle; naturally, I learned to ride one. Then my shop teacher at school taught me how to juggle, which helped improve my eye-hand coordination. I got so good at juggling that I started to perform, which led to acting, which led to theater, movies, television and a career as an actor.

Fast forward two decades. I was experiencing the typical highs and lows of a Hollywood acting career, and still spending most of my downtime watching auto racing on TV. Then a gift from my wife and family greatly changed the direction to the next chapter of my life: a three-day course at the Skip Barber Racing School. This led me to enroll in the Panoz Racing School, where I met Charles Espenlaub and Joe Foster, who became my racing coach, co-driver, and team partner for a decade.

Shortly after, in 2005, both of my passions ignited almost simultaneously. The pilot for Grey's Anatomy aired mid-season and became an overnight hit, which in turn opened doors in the racing world and allowed me to form the Dempsey Racing Team. I was also experiencing what I couldn't see from a TV screen, the camaraderie and sportsmanship on and off the track. From the get-go, racing felt like home.

My next meaningful partnership came when Charles Espenlaub introduced me to Jim Jordan. Jim was working in Mazda's marketing department and one of his responsibilities was motorsports marketing. He managed to align Mazda's motorsports and marketing objectives and my own desire to grow as a racer through a very interesting program. I would provide voice over work for Mazda's TV advertising in exchange for an RX-8 Grand-Am GT racecar! Like a drug pusher, they even gave me spare parts and just enough cash to get me into trouble!

Dempsey Racing grew into a competitive team and my two professions complemented each other more often than not. Racing gave me what the acting world lacked...control. On a broader scale, acting became a piece of a larger picture and, in a sense, I never felt like I had ownership. Racing has always been tangible to me. Something I could hold onto. I often found myself returning to set after a race feeling refreshed, focused and excited to work.

The balance on and off the track has always been challenging for me. To do anything well, you must be as focused as possible. Having too many things on your plate is very difficult to manage.

On the track, I was able to lead races and we were a defective battery away from winning the 24 Hours of Daytona (we still ended up third). The team won races. But, like all racers, I dreamed of Le Mans...

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