Last year Patrick Dempsey made his debut in the Grand-Am Sports Car Series Rolex GT at Miller Motorsports Park.

Making the jump from the KONI GS series up to the premiere Rolex Sports Car Series at the SunRichGourtmet.com 1000, was like going from a resident to head of neurology at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital in the television series “Grey’s Anatomy.”

In his third year as a driver with the Hyper Sport team, Dempsey was excited to be back on the long and winding track at MMP on Friday and Saturday.

“This is a very long track so it’s exhausting to run around here, but it’s a fun track,” Dempsey said before his stint as the first-leg driver of the Rolex GT Series on Saturday. “This third year is a little bit better than last year. I’m continuing to improve and it’s a fun facility.”

Unlike last year where Dempsey drove in three races, he only had the one endurance race on his radar this year. However, the Hyper Sport racing team — and Dempsey — didn’t have a great race.

During lap 9, Dempsey pitted with slight body damage to the No. 40 Hyper Sport Mazda RX 8. On lap 15, he pitted again for an 11-minute pit stop and then penalized 10 seconds for an improper fire bottle.

His teammates — Joe Foster and Charles Espenlaub — also suffered a penalty on lap 63 when they pitted out of sequence, which cost them 15 seconds.

During the 6 hour, 45 minute race, the three drivers took turns behind the wheel trying to build on their 92.654 point standing from Friday’s practice race. The Hyper Sport racing team finished 26th overall and 14th in the GT class after Saturday’s race.

Dempsey arrived at MMP late on Thursday after shooting for “Grey’s Anatomy” earlier in the day. With a hectic shooting and racing schedule, Dempsey raced in nine of the 13 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series this year. Balancing acting with racing and his family life does get difficult.

“The older [the children] get more difficulty there is,” Dempsey said. “It’s tough to get everything balanced out and get your head back into racing and get your head back into other stuff, that’s the real challenge.”

He’s been fortunate though to have enough time on the various tracks throughout the year to improve his times.

Dempsey became a household name since the success of “Grey’s Anatomy” took off, he’s also had roles in other films such as “Enchanted” and “Made of Honor.” However, he says racing is his real love.

“I really love it and I have a lot more friends here,” he said. “I just feel more comfortable on the track and acting is a different sensation.”

Hours after completing the nearly seven-hour race, Dempsey was out of his fire suit and helmet and dressed in a tuxedo at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles for the 60th annual Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday night.

Missy Thompson: missy@tooeletranscript.com