ARTICLE LINKY
Why I Race - The Podium
This Grey's Anatomy doctor is also a quick study behind the wheel of a Mazda RX-8
November 16, 2009
Depending on your point of view, my wife Jill gets the credit — or blame — for my racing. It was almost seven years ago that she told me to stop watching racing on TV, get off the couch, and go do something! She followed that challenge with the gift of a three-day Skip Barber Racing School course, and here we are — driving a wicked fast Mazda RX-8 in the Rolex GT class.
Thanks to my dad, I already had the car bug from early childhood. Long before I took the wheel, Dad fueled my love of cars with a new Matchbox model every week. It was one of my favorite rituals from childhood, both the Matchbox models and his passion about cars.
Growing up I was competitive, and definitely attracted to speed. In high school I skied competitively, and won a state downhill ski championship in Maine.
Due to perceived risk, my acting contracts prevented me from racing open-wheel cars. Instead, I moved into the Panoz GT race series, where Joe Foster worked with me to improve my driving skills. With Joe's help, I moved to the front of the field in the Panoz series. Joe became more than just an instructor. He became a mentor and friend. He is now my business partner and co-driver at Dempsey Racing.
Once I succeeded in the Panoz series, I moved on to the Koni Challenge endurance series and then into the Rolex GT class. We currently campaign a 3-rotor Mazda RX-8, and our progress in 2009 was good — including leading races and earning points for Mazda in the manufacturers' championship.
My intent has been to progress upward as my skills allow. Joe has been great in making sure I am ready for the next step, neither rushing me nor preventing me from stretching to a faster level. Jill has been very supportive and patient — but I'm not going to spend my kids' whole college fund on my racing. There needs to be balance, and I'm grateful Jill and the kids make sure I stay balanced.
One of my main goals now is to add a second Mazda RX-8 to the Dempsey Racing stable. That will give me the opportunity to host young drivers who are part of the Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development Ladder. I hope my longest legacy in motorsports is to give talented young drivers an opportunity to move up in their career.
When I'm at the racetrack, I feel and enjoy the sense of community there. I'm grateful for my success in Hollywood, but I feel more at home in the paddock of the Rolex Grand-Am series than I do on a movie set. It took some time to earn respect, but now I'm comfortable that I belong here. On the track I'm a racer, nothing more and nothing less.
The highlight of my racing career so far was racing at Le Mans for the first time. It was in a Ferrari in the GT2 class [where Dempsey finished 9th in class], and except for the birth of my three kids, Le Mans was the experience of a lifetime. I know that Paul Newman finished 2nd in class there, so I have a pretty clear objective when I go back.
Paul Newman has been an obvious inspiration for me. He did such an amazing job of balancing family, acting, driving, team ownership, philanthropy and community service. There will never be anyone like him again; he was just so remarkable in each of his pursuits. I appreciate that he took his racing so seriously and was so successful doing it.
While there is no way to script a race, there is one way to bring my love of racing to a wider audience. Earlier this year I optioned the movie rights to the Garth Stein novel, The Art of Racing in the Rain. Hardcore race fans were blown away by the accuracy of the sport that Garth brought to his book. It's not really a racing story; it's a people (and dog) story with racing as its background. I can't wait to bring this story to the big screen as it has potential to bring in new fans: people who might not share our passion — yet.