The five-car and 12-driver effort was highlighted by the debut of the new ALMS P2-class No. 27 Judd-powered Lola B12-80 Coupe in the American Le Mans Series event at Laguna Seca. The Lola-Judd was driven by Dempsey, his co-driver and motorsports business partner Joe Foster, and young British driver Jonny Cocker. The third round of the 2012 ALMS also featured Dempsey Racing’s No. 25 Oreca FLM09, a full-season entry this year in the ALMS PC category in a partnership with Henri Richard, Duncan Ende and Silicon Tech Racing (STR). Ryan Lewis joined this driving line-up for the Laguna Seca event. At the same time all of ALMS action was taking place in California, Dempsey Racing was in full force at New Jersey Motorsports Park with its pair of GRAND-AM Mazda RX-8 GTs and its Mustang Boss 302R. Tom Long and Scott Maxwell drove the No. 40 Mazda RX-8 GT, usually driven by Dempsey and Foster, while Charles Espenlaub and Charlie Putman co-drove their No. 41 Mazda RX-8 GT. The No. 158 Mustang is driven this season by Roger Miller and Ian James.

From green to checkered flag, the five entries and their drivers competed for a total of 20 racing hours on both sides of the country, and all five cars made it to the finish line in their respective races. “I am so proud of the team,” Dempsey said. “The fact that we have 66 employees and we ran five cars over the weekend, three on the East coast and two on the West coast, is a remarkable feat in this day and age, in this economy, for a race team.” Although this past weekend’s impressive feat will likely not be repeated this year, multiple weekend efforts for Dempsey Racing in the coming years – in North America and beyond – could become normal operating procedure. The ALMS P2 debut was the first event in a long-term program that includes a partial schedule of races this year, fulltime competition in future seasons and a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2013.

“It is kind of scary to think that just three or four years ago we had maybe three employees, one of which was me,” said Foster, who took a Saturday flight to New Jersey from California to support the program Sunday at NJMP. “Now we have about 34 full-timers. It’s impressive and scary all at the same time! We knew this weekend was coming, we were prepared for it, and had over 60 people working for us. From an operational perspective, as a business and as a race team, it was actually a very good weekend for Dempsey Racing.” Dempsey continues to emphasize that both this past weekend’s ample effort and the entire 2012 racing season are about reaching the goals that were established when Dempsey Racing was introduced. “This is a big step for our company and team, not only to race here at home, but also to get back to Le Mans and possibly more international events,” Dempsey said. “We set these goals when we introduced the company and never thought for a minute they wouldn’t be realized.”

(Based upon Dempsey Racing press information)

Photo : MONTEREY (CA, USA), MAZDA RACEWAY, LAGUNA SECA, 12TH MAY 2012. Patrick Dempsey watches data and track action on Friday practice and qualifying.