You asked for it! This is the first episode of a new series where we unpack just what it takes to get a job in pro racing.
Charlie Ping is a pro engineer. Over the last 20 years, his career has spanned IndyCar, sports cars, and the Australian Supercars Championship. He helped develop Acura's LMP1 and LMP2 prototypes, and he developed and led the manufacturer track-testing program for Chevrolet's IndyCar aero kits.
These days, Charlie works alongside INTC co-host Jeff Braun at Toronto’s 13 Motorsports, where he helps run a Corvette Z06 GT3.R in IMSA’s GTD class.
We brought Charlie on the show to pull apart his career—and to share the lessons he’s gathered along the way. The ones that might help someone—maybe you!—chase the dream of working full-time in professional motorsport.
This show changes format weekly, because squirrel. This week’s format is called “HOW I GOT HERE.”
This episode was produced by Sam Smith.
**
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!
**
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.
Full episode on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/november-bonus-144929992
**
NDQ is our listener Q&A series! Have questions about performance driving, race engineering, setup, or anything else? Hit us up: INTCPod@gmail.com
There are no dumb questions in racing… but there might be some dumb answers.
**
ANSWERED THIS MONTH:
//2:30 – How do pro drivers in long endurance races get by without sleeping?
// 19:50 – How should you think about the beginning of braking as entry speeds change?
// 35:30 – How do you stop overthinking behind the wheel?
// 38:20 – How can you improve your driving without data or video?
// 41:00 – How can you improve if you don’t know what to work on first?
**
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!
**
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.
Off-topic show! Back by popular demand. No intro or announcements on this one—we dive straight in.
***TOPICS: What Ross found when he tore down the engine from his Lotus Elan — Jeff's tale of French sports-car drivers meeting North Carolina NASCAR spotters — The summer coaching adventures of Ross and Sam — How the phrase “hot foam around your butt” relates to Jeff’s IMSA-champion son Colin — Ross going thunderstorm rogue at Sebring — and more!
***PLUS: Spotter theory, race-strategy nuance, and how the art of getting faster has changed in the last 30 years!
Our last off-topic show went strange places. This one is a lot less weird. (But it does hold the words, “hot foam on your butt.”)
This show changes format weekly, because squirrel. This week’s format is an experiment—we call it “INTC TANGENT HOUR.”
This episode was produced by Sam Smith.
**
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!
**
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.
Thirty years ago, one of the world's greatest drivers was forced to run most of an F1 race with only fifth gear.
Somehow, he finished second.
The 1994 Spanish Grand Prix is widely thought of as Michael Schumacher’s greatest race. His gearbox was stuck in fifth. His team assumed his engine was minutes from blowing. And yet, because he was Michael Schumacher—one of the most successful and complex individuals to ever take a flag—he never stopped trying to make something from nothing.
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. This episode is our monthly deep dive into an epic moment from racing history. In this case, that means the story of Schumi, Spain, and the day one man began to cement a legend.
This episode was produced by Sam Smith.
**
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!
**
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.
**Want more listener Q&As like this? Patreon members get bonus episodes! Link below!**
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!
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Ask about racing, performance driving, engineering, car setup, or anything else: INTCPod@gmail.com
**
ANSWERED THIS WEEK: How pro drivers get up to speed so quickly — What Ross learned from coaching Patrick Dempsey — Paddock espionage from journeyman pros — The power of mental imagery when you need to stink less at the wheel — What Colin Braun did over dinner at Elkhart Lake one year — What the hell is a spring rubber?
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.
This episode was produced by Sam Smith.
**
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!
**
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.
“I just want to see motorsport be as awesome as it can possibly be… can we make this more meaningful? So there’s more to care about?”
When J.R. Hildebrand says racing is broken, people listen. A few weeks ago, Hildebrand unveiled a discussion project called Blackbird 66. Maybe, he says, the future of motorsport lies in a hella-sexy 1000-horse Indy car with zero downforce.
Twist my arm.
Hildebrand: 2011 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year, drives a 1960 Cadillac named Rosie. He last hit INTC on Episode 72, when he talked about running a Winston Cup car in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb.
Two things the man believes: One, racing thrives on obvious humanity. And two, aerodynamic downforce has ruined competition and should mostly get flushed.
He's right about both, you know.
(The official answer to the question in this episode’s title: HELL YES WE DO.)
***
LINKS FROM THIS EP:
Blackbird 66: https://www.blackbird66.com/
JRH on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jrhildebrand/
Dan Gurney’s 1979 White Paper: https://legacy.allamericanracers.com/wp/formation-of-cart-dan-gurney/
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “GUEST TEACHES EVERYBODY.”
This episode was produced by Sam Smith.
**
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!
**
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.
How did Ross and a young Kimi Räikkönen end up sharing a fancy London apartment? After 20 years of testing fast cars for a living, which one still makes Sam misty? What really went wrong with Ross’s IndyCar career?
Answers to these questions—and more!—in this episode. Probably! Yes!
Every so often, INTC does a listener Q+A show. We call that format “NO DUMB QUESTIONS.” This isn’t that. This is Ross and Sam running a weird almost-gameshow and answering uncomfy questions from each other under pressure.
***
IN THIS EP: Ross and Kimi — A brake line bursting open in 70-mph L.A. traffic — Ross’s favorite street cars (and why) — How balance is the only thing that matters — a 289 Shelby Cobra — The time Ross watched a Concorde take off from the cockpit of a 747 on final approach — and more!
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “SOME DUMB QUESTIONS.”
This episode was produced by Sam Smith.
**
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!
**
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.
Jimmy Kite crashed four times—four!—trying to qualify for the 1998 Indy 500. The story of how he finally made the show holds bad luck and trashed cars but also a hidden concussion, a giant fireball, an airborne gearbox, and a fat dose of can-do spirit.
Plus: INTC co-host Jeff Braun! Jeff was Kite’s chief engineer that year. So we brought Jimmy onto the show and asked him and Jeff to tell the whole tale.
Kite was a 22-year-old sprint-car kid from Missouri who came up on dirt and had just been crowned 1997 USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the Year. A year before the Speedway, he had never driven a downforce car. And Jeff… well, Jeff was impressed!
***
IN THIS EP: That big, sexy fireball — A nervous mother — Jeff explaining suspension heave re: downforce — Dallara’s IRL monoshock — A red-hot differential aiming for low-Earth orbit — Jeff running somebody out of gas — TV announcers joking, on-air, that a 22-year-old driver looks 15 — Jeff looking happy on TV — and more!
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “JEFF PHONES A FRIEND.”
This episode was produced by Sam Smith.
**
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.
We’ve driven nearly all of ’em. Almost every road model, plus some of the great race cars—a 934 and 935, RSRs, a Daytona-winning Sixties 2.0-liter. Not to mention the extended family, like a Le Mans-winning Rothmans 962, a few 959s, Jerry Seinfeld’s 1964 “Butzi” car, the list goes on.
Why do people love (and hate) the Porsche 911? Are the great ones worth the money? Can a reasonable person grow to love a good 911 if they don't much like the things to begin with?
Cliché questions. We hit them here, then go deeper: What do you learn strapping into all that unobtainium?
Ross and Sam have some rare wheel hours with Porsche's finest. And they might have some answers.
***
SPECIAL GUEST: This episode marks the return of the legendary Kyle Kinard, formerly of Road & Track!
***
IN THIS EP: Ross battling 911s as a BMW factory driver — Alois Ruf tossing Sam the keys to the 200-mph “Yellow Bird” CTR prototype and telling him to rip around Germany for an afternoon — Sam track-testing a Le Mans-winning 934 and a Fabcar 935 on the same day for R&T — Ross racing an RSR at Daytona with a bunch of babies — Sam writing the world’s first track test of a Singer-restored 911 — and more!
(Warning: There is also much Porsche-nerd-speak.)
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “MY LIFE WITH.”
This episode was produced by Sam Smith.
**
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!
**
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.
IndyCar is a gnarly old series, and 2025 was one of the sport’s gnarliest seasons. So we asked the one and only Marshall Pruett to break it all down—own the mic, spit Palou truth, don’t hold back.
(That’s Pruett's secret—he never holds back.)
Select Pruett bona fides: decades of paddock reporting for RACER, ESPN, and Road & Track. Hosts the Marshall Pruett Podcast, which you should totally check out. Also, he’s on a first-name basis with Chip Ganassi’s lawyer.
Select IndyCar gnar, 2025: Scandals! Lawsuits! Chevrolet and Penske face-plants! Plus a mild-mannered Spaniard somehow nuking the entire field from orbit to land his fourth consecutive title in a way no one thought possible.
Plus, Pruett calls Sam names and orders Jeff a sandwich in this one. What’s not to love?
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Guest Teaches Everybody.”
This episode was produced by Sam Smith.
**
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.
Picture it: Your scrappy little pro race team has a rough 2024. The next year, out of nowhere, you win Daytona. Then the whole gang takes its first trip to Le Mans and lands a killer finish.
The rest of Jeff Braun's 2025 IMSA season was, to quote Jeff, “not that.”
This one’s a doozy: First, we’ve got INTC co-host Jeff sharing what he learned in IMSA this year. (Jeff helps run a Corvette in the GTD class, remember.) Second, we’ve got Sam, who made way too much coffee on tape day. He's a little rapid-fire yappy here, but hey, we’re all captives to fate, fly on free bird, fútbol/racing podshow is life, right?
Trophies rarely teach you something. But a long, tough season in pro racing just might.
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format "What I've Learned."
This episode was produced by Sam Smith.
**
Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
www.ItsNotTheCar.com
**
SUPPORT INTC:
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.
More than 150 corners. Twelve point nine miles. History out the wazoo, big fun, big challenge to drive quickly. The Nürburgring Nordschleife is basically the world’s greatest race track.
Wanna go? Of course you do! How convenient—Ross just got back from there! In this episode, he and Sam discuss that trip, why Ross takes a small group of clients and friends to the Ring every year, and why Sam has had many opportunities to visit the place for work and kept saying no.
(Hint: It may be because Sam is a romantic doofus.)
Fun fact: This episode was originally going to be about another topic entirely. Then Ross was like, “Oh man, I drove an Aston Martin DB6 in the Moselle Valley,” and Sam was like, “Flugplates Breidscheid Fridge?” And that sounded like more fun, so we called an audible and made a pivot.
This show changes format weekly, because squirrel. This week’s format is an experiment—we call it “INTC TANGENT HOUR.”
This episode was produced by Sam Smith.
**
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.
Little ditty... 'bout a race and a Speedway! Two Indy names, growin’ up in the heartland. Race gonna make the front page of the Indy Star? Speedway gonna something something… uh... museum... race... car!
Yeah, sure, that makes sense! Don't tell me if it doesn't?
The story of the first Indy 500 holds a lot of things—death, sand, smoke, around a million blown tires—but it does not hold John Mellencamp lyrics. Still, I hear Mellencamp in my head every time I meet Indiana, so that’s what I'm puttin' here.
(If you squint, that first paragraph almost fits the rhythm of "Jack and Diane." With apologies to the ol' Cougar himself.)
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. This episode is our monthly deep dive into an epic moment from racing history.
In this case, that means the time a quiet little American city kicked off one of the world's greatest speed traditions. Risk, blood, guts, bricks… and the first year was flat-out bonkers.
This episode was produced by Sam Smith.
**
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!
**
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.
Remember the time you almost died because your hotted-up old Camarobird got all loose and stabby up at Dead Man’s Cul de Sac? Or maybe it was Turn 45 at Laguna Merrica. Either way, there you were, boppin’ along like a lap-wreckered Versteppy, when you nearly bought the farm.
“She handled like trash that day,” you told the cops/the race steward/that fry cook at Burger Queen. “No idea why.” And the gathered crowd sighed—who hasn’t been there?
Few automotive terms are as misunderstood as the word “handling.” What does it mean? Can “good” or “bad” handling be measured or show up in data? How do non-engineery types talk about this stuff at places like the Indy 500 or Le Mans?
Jeff and Sam have answers. And INTC changes episode formats weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Racer 101.”
This episode was produced by Sam Smith.
**
Support the show — get bonus episodes and more!
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.
INTC is on a short break, so we're dishing up an encore presentation of some of our favorite stories! This show originally aired in June of 2024.
***
Once, a long time ago, a brave man went to a beach and tried to drive faster than anyone ever had. He did not survive. This is his story.
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. This episode is our monthly deep dive into an epic moment from racing history.
In this case, that means the story of Welshman John Parry-Thomas and the 180-mph stack of steel and chains that killed him.
**
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!
**
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.
The INTC gang is on a short break, so we're dishing up an encore presentation of some of our favorite stories! This episode originally aired in April of 2024.
***
Once, in the 1990s, an Italian carmaker hadn’t gone sports-car racing in 20 years. Maybe they were too busy figuring out new ways to make a 348 catch fire or something. Then some influential folks made a few expressive hand gestures and the Italians agreed to do it—but just this once, and then you gotta vaffanculo, alright?
Hold onto your butts: Today, we tell the story of the Ferrari 333 SP, the last purpose-built Ferrari prototype before the Le Mans Hypercar they’re running now.
Ross raced one of these flying pasta-saucers in IMSA. Jeff engineered them in the same series. The car’s 11,000-rpm V-12 came from a Formula 1 car. It’s a good story.
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “It’s Not Not the Car.”
This episode was produced by 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!
**
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.
The INTC gang is on a short break, so we're dishing up an encore presentation of some of our favorite stories! This episode originally aired August 13, 2024. Guts, hot-rodders, and the legendary Carroll Shelby—it's a good one!
***
In the summer of 1965, a V-8-powered love song from California dethroned Ferrari, shut up the haters, and won America its first FIA manufacturer’s road-racing championship.
Naturally, almost no one here noticed.
The Californian car was a gutsy experiment from a 28-year-old ex-GM designer named Pete Brock. Their story holds bootstraps, napkin math, and one badass stab at 180-mph immortality.
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, the short, brilliant comp life of the 1964–1965 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe.
Related Trivia: Want to read Sam’s never-before-published notes from track-testing a museum-grade Daytona clone at Summit Point and hanging out with Brock himself for Road & Track? They’re now live on our Patreon—link below!
This episode was produced by 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!
**
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.
The perfect race driver doesn't exist. Here's the catch, though: Great drivers *try* to be perfect.
How? We'll tell you! In the form of a spicy excerpt from “Ultimate Speed Secrets," the best-selling performance book by INTC co-host Ross Bentley!
(Bonus: Saucy stories from Ross's coaching past!)
(Disclaimer: Said excerpt and stories may be neither spicy nor saucy!)
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “INTC BOOK CLUB.” Think of it as a strange but unexpectedly entertaining audiobook that you bought by accident at a random truck stop long before podcasts existed, except there are no week-old hot dogs under a radioactive heat lamp, the CB radios are definitely not on sale, good buddy, and you can’t take a number to reserve a shower that smells like beans and pickled gym shorts.
(Note: We're not saying you need a shower. Travel hygiene is a personal choice, and you've always smelled great anyway! We support you, listener, whatever your soap-adjacent habits!)
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman and Sam Smith.
**
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.
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.