ericherman’s posterous

Patrick Dempsey and Joe Foster Coming Off of Duo’s Career Best Sixth at Mid-Ohio
 
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 3, 2009) – Riding a hot streak that has seen the duo score five straight top-10 showings and back-to-back career-best finishes in the last two races, Dempsey Racing and lead drivers Patrick Dempsey and Joe Foster will be looking for their first top-10 finish at Daytona International Speedway this Fourth of July Saturday in the Brumos Porsche 250 At Daytona.  Round 7 of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16, the Brumos Porsche 250 marks the beginning of the second half of the 2009 season.  The race can be seen live tomorrow on SPEED at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT).
 
Dempsey and Foster will share the No. 40 Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8 that will be racing with lead sponsorship from El Grado Tequila once again this weekend. The duo drove the Mazda to a career-best sixth-place finish one race ago in the EMCO Gears Classic at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and a top-five result is the goal at Daytona.
 
A challenge will be a hot and possibly even wet race track in the Fourth of July afternoon heat.  January’s Rolex 24 At Daytona is run in usually cooler temperatures and partly at night.
 
“The track will be completely different than the January race and the sprint-race set up and mentality are different as well,” Foster said.  “Instead of preserving the equipment it will be ‘kill or be killed’ for 70 laps.”
 
One Rolex Series race before Mid-Ohio, Dempsey, Foster and the team’s third driver Charles Espenlaub matched their then career-best result of seventh in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen.  They also finished seventh in the Verizon Wireless 250 at New Jersey Motorsports Park in May to start the current streak, which includes 10th place in the Verizon Festival of Speed at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca later in May. 
 
The solid run of results also saw a top-10 finish in last month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans that fell between the Sahlen’s Six Hours and the EMCO Gears Classic.  Dempsey and Foster combined to drive more than 20 hours of the race and, along with teammate Don Kitch Jr., finished ninth in the GT2 class in the No. 81 Dempsey Racing/Team Seattle Ferrari F430 GT.  Dempsey has also raced twice in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
 
“Both events are so unique,” Dempsey said. “More dense traffic and yet better lighting make Daytona mentally more challenging yet easier at the same time.  The ultra high speed, incredible speed differential between classes and ‘public road’ aspects of Le Mans generate their own unique challenges.”
 
A challenge in tomorrow’s race could be the heavy rain that has plagued the Daytona area recently, but the No. 40 Mazda team may find a wet track advantageous.
 
“We like the rain,” said Foster who also joined Espenlaub in the No. 40 to finish seventh in April’s race at Virginia International Raceway.  “Patrick and I had a great run in the rain in New Jersey and the wet practice session at Mid-Ohio also indicates some progress in this area.”
 
Racing on the Fourth of July also means that Dempsey and Foster will spend another holiday away from their families, but they do have some built in support at the track.
 
“Our wives and children have been so supportive during this season, which has been our busiest and yet most successful in the Rolex Series,” Dempsey said.  “We are going to miss them tomorrow but our extended family at El Grado is certainly making it all possible, and we are glad to share this holiday with them as well.”
 
Support for Dempsey Racing comes from Mazda, El Grado Spirits and Specialized Bicycles.
 
DR-PR09-08

If you don't know GOD, don't make stupid remarks!!!!!!!

A United States Marine was attending some college courses between assignments.He had completed missions in Iraq
and Afghanistan . One of the courses had a professor who was an avowed atheist and a member of the ACLU.One day
the professor shocked the class when he came in he looked to the ceiling and flatly stated, 'God, if you are real, then I
want you to knock me off this platform.. I'll give you exactly 15 minutes.'  The lecture room fell silent. You could hear
a pin drop.Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, 'Here I am God. I'm still waiting.'  It got down to the last
couple of minutes when the Marine got out of his chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him, knocking him off
the platform. The professor was out cold. The Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently. The other students
were shocked, stunned, and sat there looking on in silence.

The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked, 'What the heck is the matter with
you?  Why did you do that?'  The Marine calmly replied, 'God was too busy today protecting American soldiers who are
protecting your right to say stupid stuff and act like an idiot. So, He sent me.'

THIS IS GOOD.  KEEP IT GOING

And all God's people said --

AMEN!

Dempsey, Foster and Kitch Persevere For Ninth Place Finish in
24 Hours of Le Mans Debut with Dempsey Racing/Team Seattle
 
Dempsey and Foster Carry Dempsey Racing/Team Seattle Ferrari F430 GT to Finish
 
LE MANS, France (June 14, 2009) – Teammates Patrick Dempsey and Joe Foster carried the No. 81 Dempsey Racing/Team Seattle Ferrari F430 GT they shared with Don Kitch Jr. to a solid ninth-place GT class finish in this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans where all three drivers were making their debuts in the classic endurance race.
 
Dempsey, who was at the wheel for more than nine hours in one of the best performances of his career, drove the No. 81 Ferrari across the finish line and received an ovation from the enthusiastic French crowd second only to overall winners and national favorites Peugeot.
 
“The last hour I was just focused on not making a mistake,” said Dempsey who moved the Ferrari into ninth place in the highly competitive GT class a little over two hours from the finish.  “You felt like that through the entire night, anyway, but even more so at the end.  Around the last 10 minutes you could see the pace of everybody slowing down and the celebration started.  Then it was just such a relief.”
 
Dempsey has been racing with, and more recently, motorsports business partners with Foster for six years.  At Le Mans this weekend the duo combined for one of their most impressive and certainly longest races after Kitch fell ill with a severe head and chest cold earlier this week.  After a pair of opening stints early in the race, Kitch’s only other shift came on Sunday morning.  Dempsey and Foster combined to drive for more than 20 hours.
 
“This is like a win,” Dempsey said.  “To be here and be in the top 10, it’s like a win to me.  I have never driven so much in my entire life.  I battled to stay focused.  We knew that Don was sick in the last 12 to 15 hours and we had to double up.  It was just unbelievable and this is Joe’s life-long dream.”
 
Foster did reach a goal he set as young child.  He drove well over 10 hours at Le Mans and was consistently the team’s fastest driver.
 
“I feel like we climbed a big mountain just to be here,” Foster said.  “There are so many friend and family members from when I was a little kid in go karts to now who helped me do this.  This was an amazing experience and it exceeded all of our expectations.  This was my dream and I am just so grateful to have shared this with Patrick.  We had a plan that we followed regardless of what anybody else said or did and that was what worked.”
 
All three drivers frequently talked about how much of a learning experience Le Mans was and Dempsey, for one, is walking away with quite a bit of knowledge.
 
“I will take away so much from this race that I will now apply to every other race that I am in,” Dempsey said.  “It comes to pacing and just being smart when it comes to endurance racing.  You have to find a pace and not get caught up in other people’s races.”
 
While Kitch’s time behind the wheel was limited due to his unforeseen illness, the 24 Hours of Le Mans still represented a victory for his Team Seattle/Racing for Children program.  More than a quarter million dollars was raised from donations and lap pledges up to and during the race.
 
“I felt terrible the last few days but deep down I am so happy for what we were able to accomplish for the children,” said Kitch, who is planning to retire from racing at the end of this season.  “This program has been a big part of our lives and I am happy we were able to bring it to Le Mans.”
 
The No. 81 Ferrari ran consistently and competitively the entire race and was prepared by AF Corse, the top European sports car team.  The Italian-based organization was as professional as any team the drivers have ever raced with and the Ferrari only had minor issues that could be described as typical in endurance racing.
 
The No. 81 Dempsey Racing/Team Seattle Ferrari was one of 17 entries in the GT2 class.  Support for the effort came from El Grado Spirits, LLC, SeeLiveSurgery.tv, @SportsTV and Racing for Children in support of the Seattle Children’s Hospital and French partner hospital Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque. 
 
Next up for Dempsey Racing is next Saturday’s EMCO Gears Classic at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.  Dempsey and Foster will race the No. 40 El Grado/Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8 in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series GT class.
 
Contact:
SaalGood - Adam Saal
SaalGoodPR@gmail.com