Va-va-vroom! McDreamy, celebs drive racing

Patrick Dempsey, Paul Newman and Jason Priestley are regulars on the red-carpet circuit.

They're just as comfortable strolling through Gasoline Alley.

While Newman, David Letterman and Joe Gibbs have long had ties to racing, more and more American celebrities are getting involved in the sport. Everyone from actors to Hall-of-Fame athletes to world champion boxers are joining the ranks.

"I like it because there are no critics, no lawyers, no agents,'' said Priestley, a heartthrob on "Beverly Hills 90210'' and now a co-owner of Rubicon Race Team. "You go out and compete, it's black and white.''

In a sport where names mean everything, the addition of outside "stars'' has created a different look for racing.

Gibbs, the former Washington Redskins coach, and former Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman each won three Super Bowls and are now listed among NASCAR team owners. Letterman, Dempsey, Newman, Priestley and former heavyweight champion George Foreman are all listed as co-owners of IndyCar teams, and the allure is as varied as their day jobs.

Newman competed for years in the Can Am Series, while Priestley started driving in 1991 and made it to the Indy Racing League's developmental series before a serious accident in August 2002 ended his aspirations of running the more powerful cars.

Others grew up around the sport. Aikman's father, a welder by trade, moonlighted as a part-time driver. So after earning millions in the NFL, Aikman, now a broadcaster on Fox's NFL telecasts, found it more economical to own a race team than spend hundreds of millions to buy a franchise in one of America's other professional leagues.

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"I always thought it was a pretty exciting sport that was growing,'' he said. "It was strictly a business thing because the last thing I needed was something that required more of my time. Others probably got involved for the same reason.''

For years, the sport's popularity revolved around famous drivers like Andretti, Earnhardt, Foyt and Petty, whose children and grandchildren kept the family legacies alive.

Now the big names are coming from a wider spectrum.

Foreman and Stanford football coach Jim Harbaugh are co-owners with Panther Racing. Dempsey, better known as Dr. McDreamy on ABC's hit series "Grey's Anatomy,'' owns part of Tony George's Vision Racing team.

Letterman, the award-winning late-night talk show host, has been working with former Indy winner Bobby Rahal for years, while Newman and Carl Haas formed their first IndyCar team in 1982 and began competing in 1983.

Those who have been around racing for decades, such as Roger Penske, believe it's a good thing for the sport.

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