24 episodes
It's Not the Car Sam Smith, Ross Bentley, Jeff Braun
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- Leisure
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people, speed, and life under pressure—we tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.
Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning journalist and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine. We don’t love motorsport for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the human at the wheel.
New episodes on Tuesdays!
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How Pro Racers Cheat
Secrets dished! Stories told! Firsthand accounts from an INTC host who works in the paddock! You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll ponder the nature of human morality!
This episode’s title implies a question. For the long answer, press play. The short answer is, “very effectively.”
Sometimes.
Mostly.
(Insert push-to-Penske IndyCar joke here.)
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Jeff Shares a Secret.”
This episode is just Jeff and Sam. Ross couldn’t make it—he was busy [redacted] a [redacted] while [redacted] because the moose had [redacted]. But that’s okay, because the Dallara was [redacted] and you can really only eat so much [redacted] before you [redacted] anyway, right?
Related Trivia: We could tell you, but then we’d have to kill you.
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
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Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
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Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
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Check out Sam's new book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
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Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.facebook.com/INTCpod
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Drivercoach
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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 and an internationally renowned performance coach and author. Jeff Braun is a championship-winning race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning journalist and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine. Together, we explore the emotion at the heart of the machine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the bag of meat at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday. -
BONUS: Sam Reads From His New Book — "Dajiban!"
Free bonus episode! To celebrate the release of Sam’s new book, “Smithology,” we’re releasing one audio excerpt from it, read by him, every Monday for a month. This is the third installment.
The book’s full title is “Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writings, 2003–2023.” It’s an anthology of Sam’s writing for car magazines over the last 20 years.
Today’s story originally ran in Road & Track magazine in 2018. It’s called, “Dajiban!”
There is a race track in Japan. A vehicle goes two-wheels-up over a curb. Taylor Swift makes an appearance. The rest . . . well, hey, strap in. It gets weird.
“Smithology” is available on Amazon in print and as a Kindle e-book.
Enjoy!
**
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
**
Where to find us:
instagram.com/j.v.braun/
instagram.com/rossbentley/
instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
instagram.com/intcpod/
facebook.com/INTCPod/
rossbentley.substack.com/
speedsecrets.com/
facebook.com/Drivercoach/
**
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 and an internationally renowned performance coach and author. Jeff Braun is a championship-winning race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning journalist and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine. Together, we explore the emotion at the heart of the machine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the bag of meat at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday. -
337 MPH in 3.7 Seconds is Really Hard Work — (GUEST: Clay Millican)
“You’re gonna get fired anyway, so you might as well start racing!”
Clay Millican was a forklift operator. He quit that job to chase a dream in drag racing, and now he's an NHRA Top Fuel legend. He's also our very first guest on It’s Not the Car!
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Guest Teaches Us a Thing"—in this case, what it feels like to have 11,000 hp under your right foot. If you like it, don’t worry—there are plenty more to come whether you like it or not.
Related Trivia: Top Fuel racing can be absurdly violent. Clay's car once vibrated so much that it shook his dental crowns from his mouth. Mike, INTC's producer, wrote this episode description late at night with approximately four functional brain cells, and he will probably suffer the same fate simply by continuing to miss his dentist appointments.
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
**
Support It’s Not the Car:
Contribute on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/notthecar
**
Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
INTCPod@gmail.com
**
Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.facebook.com/INTCpod
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Drivercoach
**
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 and an internationally renowned performance coach and author. Jeff Braun is a championship-winning race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning journalist and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine. Together, we explore the emotion at the heart of the machine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the bag of meat at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday. -
BONUS: Sam Reads From His New Book — “Mears and My Feet”
Another free bonus episode! Why? Sam has a new book out! To celebrate, we’re releasing four excerpts, each read aloud by him, every Monday for a month. This is the second installment.
Sam’s book is called, “Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writings, 2003–2023.” It’s an anthology of his writing for car magazines over the last 20 years. Like the man himself, it’s thoughtful, funny, and deeply human.
Today’s story originally ran as a column at Hagerty, the classic-car insurance and media company, in 2021. It’s called “Mears and My Feet.” It’s about racing, pain, and the things we need to do.
“Smithology” is available on Amazon in print ($29.95) and as a Kindle e-book ($12.99).
Enjoy!
**
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
**
Where to find us:
instagram.com/j.v.braun/
instagram.com/rossbentley/
instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
instagram.com/intcpod/
facebook.com/INTCPod/
rossbentley.substack.com/
speedsecrets.com/
facebook.com/Drivercoach/
**
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 and an internationally renowned performance coach and author. Jeff Braun is a championship-winning race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning journalist and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine. Together, we explore the emotion at the heart of the machine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the bag of meat at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday. -
The Awful Joy of Bad Racing Movies — (Driven, 2001)
“Driving a race car,” Sylvester Stallone once said, “is terrifying.”
Aw, Sly, buddy—that just makes me sad, you know? A big ol’ dollop of Guy Fieri bummer sauce. You’re missing out! It’s only terrifying if you’re doing it wrong!
Speaking of: What if you made a horrendously expensive movie about IndyCar while knowing almost nothing about the sport? What if, a quarter-century later, that film was widely held up as one of the worst in history?
Here now, the story of Stallone’s 2001 cinematic assterpiece, “Driven.” Little-known trivia! Joyous dissections of inaccuracy! Awful behind-the-scenes insights! And at the end, Sam makes Ross and Jeff act out lines from the film, because he is clearly a broadcasting nightmare and should never be allowed to run anything.
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “INTC Movie Club.” If you like it, don’t worry, we’ll do it again. Probably with “Sharknado.”
Related Trivia: Ross, a former IndyCar driver, seems to loathe this film with every fiber of his being. As far as I can tell, Jeff simply finds it an amusing trainwreck, like watching a dog try to bake a cake.
Unrelated Trivia: Sam’s wife no longer lets him bake anything in the house.
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
**
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
**
Where to find us:
instagram.com/j.v.braun/
instagram.com/rossbentley/
instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
instagram.com/intcpod/
facebook.com/INTCPod/
rossbentley.substack.com/
speedsecrets.com/
facebook.com/Drivercoach/
**
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 and an internationally renowned performance coach and author. Jeff Braun is a championship-winning race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning journalist and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine. Together, we explore the emotion at the heart of the machine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the bag of meat at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday. -
BONUS: Sam Reads From His New Book — “Wall Drug”
Free bonus episode! Why? Sam has a new book out! To celebrate, we’re releasing four excerpts read aloud by him—one each Monday for the next four weeks.
Sam’s book is called “Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writings, 2003–2023.” It’s an anthology of his writing for car magazines over the last 20 years. Like the man himself, it's thoughtful, funny, and deeply human.
Today’s story first ran as a column in Road & Track magazine in 2015. It’s called “Wall Drug”—it’s about visiting Indianapolis during qualifying for the Indy 500.
“Smithology” is available on Amazon in print ($29.95) and as a Kindle e-book ($12.99).
Enjoy!
**
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
**
Where to find us:
instagram.com/j.v.braun/
instagram.com/rossbentley/
instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
instagram.com/intcpod/
facebook.com/INTCPod/
rossbentley.substack.com/
speedsecrets.com/
facebook.com/Drivercoach/
**
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 and an internationally renowned performance coach and author. Jeff Braun is a championship-winning race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning journalist and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine. Together, we explore the emotion at the heart of the machine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the bag of meat at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.