When Chris Andrews was a NASCAR Cup Series engineer, he worked hand-in-hand with drivers like Robby Gordon and Carl Edwards. In his current job, Andrews is lead engineer for Vasser Sullivan’s championship-winning IMSA Lexus team.
And man, does Chris have *stories*.
Chris first hit the show last fall, when he shared killer tales of illegal race-car foolery. (INTC #46, “How NASCAR Cheats.") And now he’s back for another round of NASCAR cheats!
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Guest Teaches Everybody.”
This episode was produced by Sam Smith and Mike Perlman.
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
It’s “Top Gun” on wheels, almost beat for beat. It’s awful. It’s great. And it’s a racing flick, so this ep must be…
The return of the INTC Movie Club!
SPECIAL GUEST CO-HOST: Kyle Kinard, formerly of Road & Track magazine. (Kyle’s last time here was INTC Ep. 26, “When Sam Drove Alonso’s F1 Car.”)
IN THIS EPISODE: The story of Cruise’s 1990 cinematic assterpiece “Days of Thunder” — complete with joyous plot dissections and behind-the-scenes trivia!
Why? Because Tom Cruise sawing at the wheel in Rick Hendrick sheetmetal, that’s why! Because Robert Duvall sweet-talking cars in a barn! But also because Cruise himself recently made noise about filming a sequel.
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “It’s Not the Car Movie Club.” If you hate it, don’t worry, we’ll do it again. Probably with “Sharknado.”
This episode was produced by Sam Smith and Mike Perlman.
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
It’s another “No Dumb Questions!” You email to ask, we sit down to answer. There are no dumb questions in racing … but there might be some dumb answers.
Topics this week: What are the three most important things a beginning track-day driver should focus on? Is it possible to give yourself extra mental bandwidth while driving at speed? And how do you pull feedback from a car—an EV, for example—that seemingly doesn't have much to say?
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. For this episode, we’re borrowing the No Dumb Questions framework from Ross’s old “Speed Secrets” podcast.
***Want more NDQ? Hit up INTC’s monthly bonus episodes on Patreon! Link below!***
Questions about racing or performance driving, engineering, car setup, or anything else? Fire away! INTCPod@gmail.com
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
“Why did I rob banks? Because I enjoyed it. I loved it. I was more alive when I was inside a bank, robbing it, than at any other time in my life.”
That’s Willie Sutton, the famous 1930s bank robber. Over a 40-year career in the field of unlawful arts, he personally stole a fortune, at gunpoint, from dozens of financial institutions. He never killed anyone, and he spent more than half his life in prison.
Why share these facts on an episode about how to get your first racing sponsor? No reason! This show would never condone illegal acts, and we are TOTALLY NOT SUGGESTING you rob a bank in order to fund another pastime that can, by huge coincidence, also make you feel deeply, wildly, madly alive.
(Sponsorship is *so* sexy, though. Trust me.)
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Instant Expert.”
**
RELATED TRIVIA: Fig Newtons are delicious.
This episode was produced by Sam Smith and Mike Perlman.
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
Colorado, 2025: An IndyCar veteran enters a stanky old stock car in the world’s most famous hillclimb. On his own dime, with his dad as crew. Because he wanted make a point.
Also: Because fun.
800 horses! An ex-Kyle Petty 1990s Winston Cup car! And JR Hildebrand, your 2011 Indy 500 rookie of the year. He finished fourth in class in Colorado, 16th overall. Later, Kurt Busch and Kyle Petty rang his phone.
(Did Hildebrand know those legends? Nah. They just thought dude was cool.)
Some folks think cars like that don't belong on the mountain. They don't have the brains God gave a goat.
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Guest Teaches Everybody.”
**
ONBOARD FOOTAGE — TURN IT UP LOUD: https://www.instagram.com/p/DLGEYHBSP-o/
**
RELATED TRIVIA: What would a ‘normal’ podcast say here? Probably something like, “We talk about Pikes Peak itself, what makes the mountain special, and what it was like for an IndyCar vet to run as a grassroots club racer after years on the pro side of the sport.”
(Boo hiss. Who wants to be normal?)
This episode was produced by Sam Smith and Mike Perlman.
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
Debrief alert! INTC co-host Jeff Braun helped run a GT3 Corvette at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year. To a top-ten finish!
In his day job, Jeff is comp director for an IMSA team. Baptiste Viala is a 25-year-old engineer who works with him. June marked Jeff's sixth time running a car at Le Mans and Baptiste's first.
Two cool cats. And they have surprisingly different angles on the same trip to France.
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “The Rookie and the Vet.”
(For the record, we almost called this episode “Both Sides Now,” a’la Joni Mitchell. That got nixed quick, though, because Sam totally would have sung that song on air, guaranteed, like a dying cat, okay, and no one needs that sort of thing from him, ever.)
RELATED TRIVIA: The thing is… I *have* seen La Sarthe from both sides now? From pits to stands, and still, somehow: It’s mostly crêpes that I recall. Perhaps I don’t know crêpes at all? Tears and fears and feeling proud! To say “I crêpe you,” right out loud! Dreams and schemes and podium crowds—sure, I’ve loved Le Mans that way. But also, there is in the vendor area occasionally a food truck that will sell you a fresh crêpe at six in the morning, and that sucker is tasty enough to rip your face off.
(Mitchell is a good Le Mans vibe, incidentally. Who knew? Hang on the fence at Tertre Rouge sometime, cue up "California.” Excellent.)
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
For July Fourth, an American tale: Big ambition! A mutant Camaro! A crashed mutant Camaro! Success! Failure! Wisconsin!
Plus: a NASCAR man, in France, with his name on his boots.
(Gave proof, through the night, that our flag was still there.)
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. This episode is our semi-regular deep dive into an epic moment from racing history.
In this case, that means the time in 1981 that NASCAR legend Cale Yarborough took a short-track "outlaw" Camaro to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He made it 13 laps. The whole thing was excellent.
RELATED TRIVIA: If you want to read a good thing, google the words, “Heck, Mes Amis.”
THE GARAGE 56 IN-CAR LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMQaqkW0iuE
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
Laguna Seca. Nineteen privately owned Mazdas. And one man, lapping all those cars for Road & Track, quietly losing his mind.
Car magazines: It’s a weird gig.
In this episode, Sam relives one of the more unhinged story pitches of his career: A nonstop weekend wrangling 19 wildly different Miatas. Modded and stock. V-8 swaps and K-swaps. Turbo four-cylinders that made everything from hamster power to some 360 hp at the wheels. Plus one car that looked suspiciously like an Ariel Atom... but wasn’t.
What you get here: another story from Sam’s unlikely life in automotive journalism. And a broad, deeply weird, and strangely joyful look at the everlasting appeal of the world’s most beloved roadster.
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “One Rare Day.”
RELATED TRIVIA: The Miata was engineered as a love letter to classic British sports cars. All three INTC co-hosts have owned English roadsters; Ross and Jeff still do. Jeff’s is a Triumph Spitfire he once raced with the SCCA but hasn’t driven in decades. Got ideas (or sass) about what he should do with it? Email us at INTCpod@gmail.com!
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
Corner by corner, inch by inch, with one of the greatest tracks in the world.
Do Ross and Sam use this episode to dissect their love for the pavement of Road America? Does a Wisconsin bear pope eat beer cheese in the Kettle Moraine woods?
(The answer is yes, for the record. Yes to both.)
Welcome to the Upper Midwest, cats and kittens. You will learn where the apexes are, if you don’t already know. But that’s the least interesting part.
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Walking the Track.”
RELATED TRIVIA: We’re missing Jeff for this one—he and the fine gang at AWA Racing just finished 10th at the 24 Hours of Le Mans! (France, for the record, is very much like Wisconsin—also much cheese and beer. No bear pope, though. The species is native to glaciated America.)
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
“They were all standing in front of our big Kenworth, the truck, this monster big American machine. They could have cared less about the Ferrari. They were like… the *truck* is awesome.”
That right there is an actual quote from this episode, about actual French people meeting an actual Kenworth tractor-trailer.
(Sacré bleu, good buddy!)
This episode was supposed to be on another topic and led by Sam. Then Sam got sick and lost his voice (again), so Ross and Jeff kicked out the improv jams—stories from their past, from preparing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Conveniently: Jeff is in France right now, prepping to run a Corvette in the race this weekend!
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “INTC Off the Cuff.”
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
Just what happens behind the scenes at a big-league pro sports-car race?
Answer: Everything! And in this extra-special, audiobook-style INTC, you get… a whole lot of it!
Jeff Braun and Sam Smith are two of this show's three hosts. Jeff is also competition director for the IMSA GTD Corvettes of AWA Racing. Last summer, Sam and Jeff met up for the IMSA race at Virginia International Raceway. Jeff and AWA were running a car—and Sam was building a show around all of it.
Warning: This ep’s so big, we broke it into chapters. Listen to the whole thing in a single sitting AT YOUR PERIL.
(Cue thunder/lightning, very very frightening! With apologies to F. Mercury.)
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Day in the Life.”
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
A race engineer, a driver coach, and a journalist walk into a bar on Memorial Day.
“Ow,” says the journalist.
(Figures. The other two were smart enough to use the door.)
Is this an episode where we break down and analyze this year’s Indy 500 and Monaco Grand Prix? Indeed! Did we do this exact same thing last year? Indeed!
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Ripped From the Headlines.”
CLARIFICATION: Shortly after this ep was taped, IndyCar announced tech-violation penalties for this year's 500. Three finishers—Ericsson, Kirkwood, and Illot—lost their original finishing positions and were demoted down the field.
RELATED TRIVIA: The Baird’s Beaked Whale has 13 stomachs. A yak has four. A llama has three stomachs. Are these seemingly random bits of information related to this episode? Listen and find out! (Or don’t. It’s your choice, and we respect that.)
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
Not always. But often. It’s one of the many mysteries of motorsport.
Here now, a dive into some of those mysteries! Starring a champion race engineer—Jeff!—and a recovering motorsport journalist—Sam!
Some racing mysteries are fun. Some are frustrating. Regardless, if they’re in this episode, we don’t have answers for them, and we probably never will.
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “IT’S NOT THE UNSOLVED MYSTERIES.”
RELATED TRIVIA: Sam wrote these words late one Monday night while deep in the fog of A Real Gnarly Migraine. Which, as it happens, is also the title of his award-winning solo album of primal-scream-therapy background music. (Spoiler: That album is almost entirely screaming. But you could have guessed that.)
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
Free Bonus Episode! What's it like to spend a whole week and thousands of miles with someone you barely know? Ever tried that while barely sleeping, while lapping nearly a dozen race tracks at speed, while trying not to lose your mind?
Welcome to spectacle—the event, the 40-year tradition—that is One Lap of America.
Ross is an ambassador for BFGoodrich. A while back, his friends at BFG called and asked if he wanted to run this year’s One Lap in a new Honda Civic Type R.
Ross said yes. His BFG co-driver, Ed Gliss, turned out to be a great guy. They both had huge fun. So we called them on the road—during the actual event—and got a debrief. Enjoy!
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
This episode holds... Death! Glory! Men in great hats! But also Enzo Ferrari, Ferdinand Porsche, 160-mph race cars, and an entire regiment of the Nazi army.
Oh, and: One of history's greatest drivers eats a ham.
Oh, and: Hitler.
Hold onto your butts, y’all—this one’s a doozy.
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. This episode is our semi-regular deep dive into an epic moment from racing history. In this case, that means Tazio Nuvolari’s against-all-odds win at the 1935 German Grand Prix.
RELATED TRIVIA: Once, for his day job, Sam went to an old track in the Northwest and tested an ancient grand-prix car. The engine sounded like barolo on fire. It was the exact machine in this story—Nuvolari’s Nazi-whupping Alfa Tipo B. Do we talk about that here? Yes!
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
Landing a job as a pro race driver takes talent, hard work, and a truckload of money.
Or sometimes just money. And some people do it for giggles, as a hobby. (You know, like knitting! Just with more Senna inspo quotes.)
This show changes formats weekly, because squirrel. We call this ep's format “MY LIFE WITH.” It’s where an INTC host tells the story of how they came to understand a complex racing topic over their working life.
In this case, that means Jeff, his career as a champion race engineer, and the unique species that is the amateur—a.k.a. “semi-pro” or “pay”—driver in professional motorsport!
RELATED TRIVIA: Jeff is currently knee-deep in prep for this weekend's IMSA race at Laguna. Ross is on One Lap of America, hucking around the country in a Civic Type R. And in the most exciting news of all, Sam just got back from the grocery, where he discovered a jam-filled French cookie that tastes almost exactly like a raspberry Pop-Tart.
(If you no longer go for gnarly French jam cookie, you are no longer… etc.)
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
It’s another “No Dumb Questions!” You email to ask, we sit down to answer. There are no dumb questions in racing … but there might be some dumb answers.
In this episode, we take questions from only one listener.
Spoiler: That listener is Sam!
This was supposed to be a fun little exercise where Sam asked Ross and Jeff random racing questions. Then Sam got a “rager” (his word) case of Covid and was barely able to talk. So he asked Ross and Jeff to read his questions aloud and spent most of the ep quiet.
(Except for when he squeaked the squeaker of a little toy bear he borrowed from his daughter. As a sign of approval, or something? Because a Smith man cannot ever shut up, apparently, even when physically incapable of speech.)
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. For this episode, we’re borrowing the "No Dumb Questions" framework from Ross’s old “Speed Secrets” podcast.
RELATED TRIVIA: This show was taped a few weeks ago—today, Sam is once again healthy. The bear, however, suffered permanent emotional damage and will never recover.
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
Do you remember your worst day in racing?
Of course you do. How could you forget?
Jeff, Sam, and Ross: three hosts, three hugely different people, three lifetimes in and around motorsport. And in this episode, the stories of three very different bad days at the track—in parenting (Jeff), in desperation (Sam), and in the realization that a dream is gone and not coming back (Ross).
Racing is like any other part of life: It’s not about what happens when things go right. It’s about who you are when things go wrong.
This show changes format weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “EVERYONE TELLS A STORY.”
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
Race tracks. The road. Fast cars. Slow ones. What do they have in common? Simple: If you're willing to use your noggin-brain, you can figure them out.
Maybe.
How do you get used to a new car at speed? What does it want, what does it need? What do *you* need? Can you turn the whole process into a repeatable, trustworthy routine? Of course you can! The question is… how?
This show changes format weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “INSTANT EXPERT.”
RELATED TRIVIA: Jeff , Ross, and Sam were at the Long Beach Grand Prix last weekend. At one point, Ross and Sam went to the legendary Autobooks-Aerobooks bookstore in Burbank, where they randomly bumped into an INTC listener named Matt. Matt was there to buy one of Ross’s “Speed Secrets” books! Hi, Matt! Later, Sam ate a bag of Haribo Star-Mix gummies that had melted from sitting on the dash of Ross’s rental car. Was there a point to this story? No, of course not! Thanks, kids! I’m off to yell at clouds!
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
Why do we push ourselves? What makes you put yourself out there and try?
Why is that trying so easy for some and so hard for others?
How much does belief matter with all this? How much is it relevant to driving around in circles, or human performance, or doing the best you can with anything, especially given the limited resources each of us has on tap, as a person?
Why do those resources rarely feel like enough—even when they so clearly are?
This show changes format weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “ROSS AND SAM ASK WHY.” It came about because Ross and Sam once went to a Brazilian restaurant in Culver City. There’s more to that story, but it’s a secret and maybe we’ll tell you one day just not now ooooooh the mystery and suspense so enormous!!!
RELATED TRIVIA: Ross always says this show is what happens when an engineer, a driver coach, and a journalist walk into a bar. (Insert punchline here.)
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Check out Sam's book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
**
ABOUT THE SHOW:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning writer and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
