Patrick Dempsey may be giving up his role on TV’s Grey Anatomy in order to pursue his other passion – racing.

Known and loved as Dr. Derek Shepherd (aka Dr. McDreamy) on the top-rated series, Dempsey said that this year would be his last season on the show. Now we know why – he says he’d rather race then commit to another season.

Recently, Dempsey was testing his car at the Daytona International Speedway for an upcoming race, where he took time out to tell reporters that: “The biggest point for me in negotiations is getting time off to come race, so if I don’t miss races, I’ll probably stay on Grey’s Anatomy.”

Dempsey is planning ahead, and even though the show is a Thursday night staple, it seems that his heart is in racing right now. But if you’re a fan of Grey’s Anatomy, there’s no need to panic just yet. The actor still enjoys starring in the show, as it keeps it close to his family. Here’s hoping he can work out a deal that keeps him in the show and on the race track.

If you want to see Dempsey in action – on the race track, that is – you can catch him as he gets behind the wheel for the Grand-AM Series’ Rolex 24 (he placed third in this race last year). The race airs on SPEED network January 28 at 3:30 p.m. ET and January 29 at 9 a.m. ET.

[Source: People]

News has just surfaced that Grey’s Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey (aka McDreamy), will race at the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Ferrari F430 GT race car.

Dempsey will race alongside co-drivers Don Kitch Jr. and 2008 Gran Am Koni Challenge Champion Joe Foster under the team name Team Seattle. The Ferrari race car will be prepared bu Advanced Engineering.

Team Seattle, which was founded by Kitch, has been operating for 12 years, working to create awareness and support of Seattle’s Children’s Hospital.

Dempsey, it should be noted, is not new to racing, having competed in the 2008 Grand Am Rolex Sports Car series with Hypersport Engineering in a Mazda RX-8. Dempsey will continue to be involved in the 2009 season as he purchased Hypersport Engineering, which will now run under the banner of Dempsey Racing.

When asked about his Le Mans effort, Dempsey had this to say: “while we remain 100% committed to our Mazda-powered Rolex Series program this opportunity to ally with Team Seattle and enhance its efforts to drive funding to Seattle Children’s Hospital and their Team France partner is an opportunity that Dempsey Racing is honored to accept.”

Kitch was eager to show his appreciation to Dempsey and commented that, “Patrick is by no means new to the Team Seattle campaign as he has been very supportive of the effort since we first met at the Daytona 24 Hour… he loved what we were doing and wanted to help in any way he could.”

The 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans takes place on June 13-14.

[Source: ColdTrackDays]