Here Comes the Circus

That's right, it's race week in Long Beach! The trucks should start rolling in mid-week, and by Thursday night, the key players—drivers, teams, media, and fans—should be here. Which means I've got to get prepared!

My husband and I have a saying (I think he coined it): The business of racing happens at the track.

You can arrange and plan and make deals for months, but everything will come together at the race track during a race weekend. Or some new deal will be formed. Or you'll meet the contact you never dreamed of meeting. Or I'll get 27 questions answered in a 20 minute period, which otherwise would have taken three weeks and 15 emails.

It's happened over and over. Like when I ran into Dr. Don Panoz (founder of the American Le Mans Series, at right) in the Atlanta airport and handed him a book (come to think of it, he never did write to tell me what he thought; maybe I'll see him this weekend and ask). Or when I met Harlan Charles (project manager for the new Corvette Stingray) and handed him a book. There's a theme here.

So here's my to do list:

1. Hand a book to anyone important!
2. Meet IndyCar driver Pippa Mann for the first time.
3. Interview my friend Pattie (and maybe other women in racing) for the Steel Ovary Nation site.
4. Check in with Corvette Racing driver Oliver Gavin to see if he's reviewed my racing scenes in Avoidable Contact.
5. Bother Corvette Racing Manager Doug Fehan (at right) just because he makes me laugh.
6. Ask someone at The Racer's Group a question about the brake-light system in a Porsche.
7. Hang out with super-crazy race fans Barb and Mary.
8. Run into all the people I'm not thinking about yet but will be excited to see.
9. Figure out where to kill someone for Kate's book #4, Hot Lap!
10. Hang out with my friend, former co-blogger, and Bouchercon 2014 toastmaster, Simon Wood.
11. Agree with all my race friends who live in the Midwest and South that yes, LA is a little nuts.
12. See if I can spot the porn stars in the paddock this year (really). 
13. Figure out why someone might need to die for Hot Lap.
14. Give away some Team Kate gear?! (Who wants some?)

I'm sure there's more. Fortunately I have four days to finish the list....