We stayed at the Mandalay, my first time there, so it took a couple trips to learn how to travel the length of The Strip, from the monorail to Excalibur, then the tram from MGM Grand down to Harrah's. I must have walked tens-of-thousands of steps anyways. Directions to the grandstands and suites were not clear, and my new friends were finding their way as well. We circled a little around Wynn on the first day, but by Day 2, getting to the North and South Koval seating, to the Paddock for a tour (overrated), and down to the Circle was familiar territory. (I had the app handy, which briefly made me the defacto front-man.) Michael, David, Travis, Chris, Syed, Ali and the few spouses were all welcoming and a great travel bunch.
Day 1 was practice, which was cancelled after six minutes when Carlos Sainz hit a manhole cover, wrecking his vehicle. My breakout group (Travis and Syed) stayed until 2 AM waiting for action, which started after we left. Not a good look for F1 on the first day. Had a nice chat with Chris, from Wells Fargo, about Auto Finance, and burned some calories as I skipped eating waiting for food at the event, which they pulled at midnight. The paddock tour sucked, but I did learn how the tires work.
Day 2 was a few calls and then a nap for me, then dinner at Delilah, an amazing exclusive club. At $250 a plate, and celebrities around us (OBJ at the next table), it's like no place I'd ever been. I sat in the hairpin turn with David and Travis for the three qualifying races. A group of girls came by, and I pulled them up in seats next to us, spending Q2 talking to Casey Boonstra, a model and social influencer from Australia. (Tried to connect her with one of the guys, who quickly showed his true colors, pivoting from bullshitter to lame.) David realized online later we're now Insta famous! Found a slice on the walk back to the hotel. Was returning to my room closer to 4 AM now each night.
Day 3 was the race. I walked down to the Shelby Heritage Museum for a tour in the afternoon, just down from my hotel. And then took a helicopter tour of the track at 5 PM as they lit the track. Got some pefect photos of the layout from above, despite being squeezed in the back seat of the copter so a useless couple could make-out in the front seats and ignore the view. With Travis, Mark, and Ali, I was now in the third spot where we had tickets, in North Koval, I was the only one to sit in all three spots, by chance. Top deck of the suites, with lobster tail and prime rib, I grabbed us a table along the glass, before upgrading us slowly to seats along the track bar, and finally seats in the second row from the track. (I even dragged a barstoool to the trackside... no shame, not for that seat price, I was having a good seat.) It was an amazingly competitive race, I put $100 on Sainz, who finished 7th following a bad penalty, and the other guys placed theirs as well once I did. Hard to put words to the race, but with a great view down both ends of the straightaway, direct line to the Sphere, and perfect cool weather, there's nothing that could have made it better. And fireworks.
We had an invitation to the after party at Delilah, which I didn't intend to go, but we all met there after. More than 200 people lined up down three halls in Wynn to get into the club, and Tony LePenna the owner escorted us past the ropes and security, and into the bar first. I grabbed us a couch and chairs near the bar, to anchor us for the evening. I'm quite predictable, I provide a center point so no one is lost, and everyone has a good time, including two girls looking for their way, Katie and Charlotte, who offered a good 45 mins of conversation, and a couple phone numbers (which are of no use to me at this age!) So my reputation as 'the player' (Ha!) lands quickly, and endears me to the group, getting plenty of offers to go clubbing the future (I've always been a good wingman.)
We made a nice thank you video for Tony, I unexpectedly flew home next to Becky who was on the same flight returning from a bike ride in Nevada, and being very short on sleep with sore feet, I come away with memories that were unimaginable just a few days earlier. And now I have an F1 team going forward, Ferrari is it.
