DANVILLE, VA. – Patrick Dempsey, known to TV viewers as Dr. Derek Shepherd on ABC-TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” will be competing in the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Grand Sports Series at VIRginia International Raceway this weekend, Oct. 5-7.

Dempsey, of Los Angeles, Calif., will be co-driving the No. 54 Hyper Sport Ford Mustang GT sponsored by Supercuts, with Rick Skelton of Atlanta, Ga. and Hoover, Alabama’s Joe Middlebrooks.

A long-time racing enthusiast, Dempsey competed in five races of the 2006 Grand Am Cup Series (now the KONI Challenge,) after starting in the famed Toyota Pro/Celebrity race at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2005. He also competed in the Mazdaspeed Miata Cup and Panoz GT Racing Series, where he earned a pole position and a third-place result in 2005.

 In addition to his television work, which included a run on the popular series “Will and Grace,” Dempsey has starred in feature films such as Can’t Buy Me Love, Sweet Home Alabama, Loverboy, Scream 3, With Honors and Outbreak.

 Dempsey’s busy TV schedule saw him only able to compete in four races in 2006 with the New York & Company Mustang. He opened the season in January at Daytona, followed at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in May. His next KONI Challenge race did not come until September, at Miller Motorsports Park. A month later, he closed out the season at VIRginia International Raceway.

 In the current season, Dempsey has finished sixth place at Homestead-Miami Speedway for his best finish of the year. He placed 22nd at Iowa Speedway, with a 14th and 13th at the two most recent events, at Trois-Riviere in Canada and at Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City, Utah.

 VIR is one of his favorite tracks: “it’s an awesome track to drive as well as visit,” he says.

 “We’re glad to have celebrities such as Dempsey and others feel that they can enjoy a weekend at VIR,” said track General Manager Josh Lief. “We try to make everyone feel at home and make their visits as pleasant and unstressed as possible,” he concluded.

 VIRginia International Raceway is a multi-purpose road racing facility, located on the Dan River between Danville and South Boston, Virginia. Reopened in 2000, VIR hosts a wide range professional and amateur auto and motorcycle racing and track events, and is well established as “America’s Motorsport Resort.” In addition to its historic 3.27 mile natural-terrain road racing circuit, VIR is the cornerstone of VIR Club, America's first motorsports country club; the VIR Raceplex Industrial Park and Motorsports Technology Park, which includes the Virginia Institute for Performance Engineering and Research (“VIPER”); the Plantation Valley Kart Track, a 5/8 mile paved natural terrain karting circuit; an expanding variety of on-site lodging (including 45 hotel rooms and the trackside Villas which are for sale); Camp Motorsport for enthusiasts of all ages; and the Oak Tree Tavern, a full-service restaurant located within the circa-1840 Plantation Clubhouse.

 The GT Live/KONI Challenge event, the weekend of October 5-7 presents enthusiasts with the widest variety of motorsports available. The headliner event will be the KONI Challenge races for high-performance production sports cars, coupes and sedans. With limited modifications, these are the same cars seen on the highways every day. The VIR races will be the finales for the two classes, both featuring a six-hour enduro format. The big engined Grand Sport (GS) racers will take the track in the weekend’s capstone, while the smaller Street Tuner (ST) class attracts the import and hot compact crowd.

 GS races feature Porsche, Nissan, BMW, Mustang and Pontiac, while the ST cars attract entries such as Mazda RX-8, Chevrolet Cobalt SS, Dodge SRT-4, MINI Cooper S, Acuras and a variety of BMWs. The entire field races on Hoosier tires, further equalizing the competition.

 Other attractions of the GT Live weekend include such diverse programs as:

·   GT Sim Race: Ride in some of the world’s hottest cars in cars on VIR’s 3.27-mile Full Course.

·   Tarzan’s Lap Battle: Drive your own car in on the 1.1-mile Patriot Course in a Time Attack, competing for lap times

·   Rally-X: drive your car on VIR’s gravel rally stage roads.

·   Karting Zone: race karts in the on VIR’s Plantation Valley Kart Track.

·   Car and bike shows and fan festivals for Mazda, Nissan/Infiniti, Subaru and Mitsubishi EVO.

·   GT Track Attack pitting American tuners against Japanese tuners for cash prizes.

·   US Drift Shootout: the best amateur and professional drifters competing on the Patriot Course for cash.

·   The best motorcycle stunt riders in the business compete for cash prizes in the invitation-only XDL U.S. Stunt Riding Championship.

 For more information, visit the track’s Web site at www.virclub.com or contact VIR at 434-822-7700. For more information on the Grand American Road Racing Association, visit their website at www.grandamerican.com. For more information on GT LIVE, visit their website at www.gtlivetour.com.