Dempsey Racing Represents at GRAND-AM Road Racing/ALMS Merger Announcement at Daytona International Speedway
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 5, 2012) – Dempsey Racing, in the midst of its biggest year of operation and competition in company history in 2012, was part of the formal announcement of the biggest and most significant development in North American Sports Car racing in this century earlier today at Daytona International Speedway.
GRAND-AM Road Racing’s merger with the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was officially confirmed in a press conference at Daytona this morning, and Dempsey Racing’s No. 27 Trina Solar/Drink GNC/Motegi Racing Lola-Judd P2 was one of four representative sports cars on display at the historic announcement.
Dempsey Racing is the only sports car team that runs fulltime programs in both the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series. The effort includes three fulltime sports cars in total, with a pair of VISIT FLORIDA Mazda RX-8 GTs in the Rolex Series and the Silicon Tech/Dempsey Racing PC team in ALMS. The No. 27 P2 Lola-Judd that was on display at Daytona on Wednesday is also running a partial development season of racing in ALMS this year.
Additionally, Dempsey Racing fields a full-season Mustang program in a partnership with Roger Miller and Miller Racing in the GRAND-AM Continental Sports Car Challenge.
“We are incredibly proud, and at times a little terrified actually, of the incredible multi-team and multi-series effort we are fielding this year,” said Dempsey Racing owner and driver Patrick Dempsey, the popular television and film actor. “I am sure Jim France and Don Panoz may be feeling the same way after today’s announcement! It is and will be an amazing feat, it certainly presents another exciting option for us and our partners, and we were honored to be part of the big day with our Trina Solar/Drink GNC/Motegi Racing Lola-Judd on display.”
The No. 27’s presence at the press conference could very well have been the first time a currently competing international and ALMS specification P2 race car has ever rolled on to the hallowed ground of Daytona International Speedway. Based on the plans outlined today, P2 will very likely be among the classes competing in the inaugural race for the unified new series when it debuts at the 2014 Rolex 24 At Daytona.
“We understand the place was packed and that the media turnout was excellent, so it was good to get some new and influential eyeballs on our Dempsey Racing P2 car,” said Joe Foster, Dempsey’s co-driver and motorsports business partner. “This was definitely a big and somewhat surprising announcement and we will absolutely stay in tune with what will no doubt be some exciting and interesting developments over the next year. At the end of the day, racing still comes down to cubic dollars and we will add this option to the discussion with our partners."
Dempsey Racing remains committed to its goal of returning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans as soon as next year with its P2 effort. Dempsey and Foster anchored a ninth-place GT2 finish in a Ferrari in their Le Mans debut in 2009 and have been determined to get back to the Circuit de la Sarthe ever since.
"For us, it is always about running at the best and iconic tracks on the global motorsports stage, and this new merger will certainly provide that for North America,” Foster said. "Unifying sports car racing in the United States can only be a good thing. Our hope is that this move generates future stability for American sports car racing, and that there always remains a credible path for U.S. teams to race domestically and abroad with similar machinery. We hope that the future series can include the best of both worlds in terms of venues and operational style.”
Next up for Dempsey Racing is the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series is the Continental Tire Sports Car Festival at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, September 7 – 9.
About Dempsey Racing: A fulltime and year-round enterprise, Dempsey Racing (www.dempseyracing.net) is a professional sports car auto racing team based in the greater Atlanta area in Flowery Branch, Georgia. Owned by actor/driver Patrick Dempsey, the team races in support of the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing (www.dempseycenter.org) in Dempsey’s hometown of Lewiston, Maine, and the Team Seattle Guild (www.teamseattle.com) to benefit the Seattle Children’s Hospital Heart Center (www.seattlechildrens.org).
About Dempsey Racing’s Partners: Dempsey Racing (www.dempseyracing.net) is an official Mazda (www.mazdausa.com) racing team and has competed exclusively in Mazda RX-8 GTs in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series since 2007. A primary partner for the Mazda program is VISIT FLORIDA (www.VISITFLORIDA.com), the official tourism marketing corporation for the State of Florida, and its www.ShareaLittleSunshine.org and www.FishingCapital.com promotional programs, and the television show Bass 2 Billfish with Peter Miller. Additional Dempsey Racing partners include Trina Solar (www.trinasolar.com), a leading manufacturer of high-quality solar photovoltaic (PV) modules that deliver reliable, environmentally-friendly power to homes and businesses and value to customers, and Specialized Bicycle Components (www.specialized.com), a manufacturer and worldwide supplier of technically advanced bicycles and related components. New partners for 2012 include GNC Beverages (www.drinkGNC.com), built upon the 75 years of nutrition innovation from the leader in sports nutrition, Motegi Racing (www.motegiracing.com), a leading manufacturer of competition and high-performance tuning wheels designed and engineered for performance, Racing Electronics (www.racingelectronics.com), the number one source for professional race communications worldwide, and Silicon Tech Racing (www.silicontechracing.com) which provides high-tech corporations a dedicated marketing platform through sports car road racing focused on technology executives.