Patrick Dempsey's Racing A Distraction From 'Grey's Anatomy' Premiere And His Feud With Ellen Pompeo?

Patrick Dempsey marked his first ever sports car racing first class win at the IA WEC Six Hours of Fuji.

According to Fox Sports, the former "Grey's Anatomy" star drove the No. 77 Porsche 911 RSR Dempsey Proton Racing along with Patrick Long and Marco Seefried.

In the wake of Patrick Dempsey's recent success on the race track, some fans are speculating whether the actor is channeling his attention and energy into racing amid the start of "Grey's Anatomy" season 12 - the first season of the Shonda Rhimes hospital drama without his character, Dr. Derek Shepherd.

It has been previously reported that Patrick Dempsey and his former co-star, Ellen Pompeo who plays Dr. Meredith Grey in the program, may allegedly be involved in a feud.

Rumors about an alleged feud sparked when Ellen Pompeo said that the hospital drama will be just fine without Dr. Derek Shepherd.

"It's like, Annalise Keating carries the show, Olivia Pope carries the show," Ellen Pompeo told Entertainment Weekly as published in an earlier report. "But somehow, Meredith Grey needs someone."

"Why can't I just be the lead of the show the way Annalise and Olivia can? Why can't I be on that poster by myself," the actress added.

Ellen Pompeo referred to the other two Shonda Rhimes shows in the TGIT (Thank God It's Thursday) block - Annalise Keating, played by Viola Davis, on "How to Get Away With Murder," and Olivia Pope, played by Kerry Washington, in "Scandal."

Though Patrick Dempsey will star in the third "The Bridget Jones's Diary" film with Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth, moving on from "Grey's Anatomy," where he starred for a decade, can be harder than it seems.

Is the actor using racing as a distraction from his feud with Ellen Pompeo and not being involved in the current season of "Grey's Anatomy"?

Patrick previously talked about how his love for acting and racing balances each other out.

"On a broader scale, acting became a piece of a larger picture and, in a sense, I never felt like I had ownership. Racing has always been tangible to me, something I could hold onto." the actor wrote in an article published in Dempseyracing.net in July.

"I often found myself returning to set after a race feeling refreshed, focused and excited to work.