Circuit Notes by Peter Hubbard: Actor/Racer Patrick Dempsey Talks With COTA

Aspiring road racers don’t generally enter motorsport in search of fame and fortune, because, well, it’s just not there. If fame and fortune is the main goal, you’re better off driving in the NASCAR or IndyCar series. Better yet, use your skills to play one of America’s big four big-money spectator sports—football, basketball, golf or football. But if you’re already rich and famous, and have a passion for the sport, why not go for it? That’s precisely what actor and gentleman driver Patrick Dempsey is doing.

While most entry-level road racers don’t fit the rich-and-famous description, Patrick Dempsey does. He’s made a name for himself as a well-known film and TV actor, in part playing Dr. Derek Shepherd for the last nine years on the hit ABC medical drama, Gray’s Anatomy.