Patrick Dempsey might have acquired the rights to the book “The Art of Racing in the Rain,” but it turned out to be a reality this past weekend when he had to compete in wet conditions in Sunday’s Grand-Am race at new Jeresey Motorsports Park.

Dempsey, who made his second start of the season, scored a career-best finish (seventh) in the GT class on a rainy day behind the wheel of the No. 40  Mazda RX-8 he co-drives with Joe Foster.

“I'm happy for the result, and I'm happy for Mazda,” Dempsey said.  “It's been a great weekend. Conditions were bad, but that's racing. I had a blast."

The last time Dempsey competed in the rain was in 2008 at Mid-Ohio when he finished 12th.

As for the book, "The Art of Racing in the Rain” is about a dog named Enzo that learns from his master, who is an up-and-coming race car driver. One of the things Enzo enjoys is watching tapes of his owner  and other drivers race in the rain. His favorite race was the 1993 Grand Prix of Europe in which Ayrton Senna lapped the entire field except for one car in the rain.