Patrick Dempsey is taking fans along for the ride as he returns to the racetrack.
The actor’s return to race car driving is the subject of Destined to Drive: Patrick Dempsey’s Return to Racing, a new documentary by Fox Sports and NASCAR Studios airing March 16, and PEOPLE has the exclusive premiere of the trailer.
Dempsey, 59, says it’s “good to be back” as he takes a seat in front of the camera as the trailer starts. A broadcaster voice comes in next, announcing, “After nine years away, Patrick Dempsey is returning to racing and all eyes are on him,” over footage of the Grey’s Anatomy star driving on the track.
“I want to win,” Dempsey tells the audience.
His return to racing clearly means a lot to Dempsey, who tells the camera he “forgot how much I missed it” and “forgot this side of my nature” as he gets back into the sport.
“I am so thankful for this opportunity — not just to be back behind the wheel, but to do it with the right team and my friend, Patrick Long, as my co-driver,” Dempsey said in a press release shared with PEOPLE.
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Dempsey grew up a big fan of the sport and officially began his own racing career in the early 2000s, according to a 2014 interview with the New York Times.
Patrick Dempsey in his Fox Sports documentary. Fox Sports/NASCAR Studios
In 2016, he took a break from racing to focus on his family and acting career, he said in a statement at the time (per FoxSports).
Dempsey remained part of the Dempsey-Proton Racing team ownership group despite his hiatus from racing. His 2023 film Ferrari reportedly inspired him to get back behind the wheel.
“Racing is like an addiction,” he said in a Wright Motorsports press release ahead of his return to the track with the team. “Once you start, it’s hard to stop. During pre-production on the recent Ferrari film, I got a lot of seat time and fell off the wagon, of sorts.”
Patrick Dempsey in “Destined to Drive: Patrick Dempsey’s Return to Racing”. Fox Sports/NASCAR Studios
In 2023, Dempsey told PEOPLE that racing has been “a really important part” os his life. Besides his decades-long history with Porsche, he said he also finds the intangible components of the motorsports industry, such as the “camaraderie, fellowship and physical and mental challenge of it,” completely “rewarding.”
“When you’re racing, you don’t really think about anything else other than being present. I think that’s an important thing for all of us to remember in the world we’re living in right now.”
Destined to Drive: Patrick Dempsey’s Return to Racing premieres on March 16 on FS1.
