Roary the Racing Car characters, such as Rusty, Flat Bed, Nick, Lugga, Zippee, Hellie, Breeze, Conrod, James, and Loada. "Roary the Racing Car" is set around a fictional motor racing circuit called Silver Hatch (a portmanteau of the names of the two British Grand Prix racing circuits, "Silverstone" and "Brands Hatch"). The majority of the action takes place at the track's pits and workshop, although we often follow the cars on their laps around the track. Occasionally, the characters venture to external locations such as the nearby beach. Each story begins and ends with a brief narration from racing car driver Sir Stirling Moss.
The Art of Racing in the Rain the 1998 Mongolian documentary "State of Dogs", and then later in 2004 heard poet Billy Collins give a reading of the poem "The Revenant" told from a dog's point of view. Stein had originally named the dog "Juan Pablo" after Colombian race car driver Juan Pablo Montoya, but changed his name at the suggestion of his wife, naming the dog instead after Enzo Ferrari, founder of the famous Italian automobile marque of the same name. The race car driving experience of the novel's character, Denny, is based on Stein's own experience in racing cars, and on another race car driver