by Sam Smith, Ross Bentley, Jeff Braun
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 a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer with time in NASCAR and IMSA. 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 meatbag at the wheel.
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
1/9/2024
Email Addresses
1 available
Phone Numbers
0 available
April 15, 2025
<p>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. </p><p>Maybe.</p><p>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?</p><p>This show changes format weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “INSTANT EXPERT.” </p><p><br></p><p><strong>RELATED TRIVIA: </strong>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!</p><p><br></p><p>This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.</p><p><br></p><p>**</p><p><strong>Who We Are + Spicy Merch:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.itsnotthecar.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">www.ItsNotTheCar.com</a></p><p>**</p><p><strong>Support It’s Not the Car:</strong></p><p>Contribute on Patreon <a href="https://www.patreon.com/notthecar" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">www.patreon.com/notthecar</a></p><p>**</p><p><strong>Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!</strong></p><p><a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">[email protected]</a></p><p>**</p><p><strong>Check out Sam's book!</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Smithology-Thoughts-Travels-Semi-Plausible-Writings/dp/B0D2Q3P93Z/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023</a></p><p>**</p><p><strong>Where to find us:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/intcpod" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/intcpod</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/</a></p><p><a href="https://rossbentley.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://rossbentley.substack.com/</a></p><p><a href="https://speedsecrets.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://speedsecrets.com/</a></p><p>**</p><p><strong>ABOUT THE SHOW:</strong></p><p>It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.</p><p><br></p><p>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.</p><p><br></p><p>We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.</p><p><br></p><p>New episodes every Tuesday.</p>
April 8, 2025
<p>Why do we push ourselves? What makes you put yourself out there and try?</p><p>Why is that trying so easy for some and so hard for others?</p><p>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? </p><p>Why do those resources rarely feel like enough—even when they so clearly are?</p><p>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!!!</p><p><strong>RELATED TRIVIA: </strong>Ross always says this show is what happens when an engineer, a driver coach, and a journalist walk into a bar. (Insert punchline here.)</p><p><br></p><p>This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.</p><p><br></p><p>**</p><p><strong>Who We Are + Spicy Merch:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.itsnotthecar.com/">www.ItsNotTheCar.com</a></p><p>**</p><p><strong>Support It’s Not the Car:</strong></p><p>Contribute on Patreon <a href="https://www.patreon.com/notthecar">www.patreon.com/notthecar</a></p><p>**</p><p><strong>Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!</strong></p><p><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></p><p>**</p><p><strong>Check out Sam's book!</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Smithology-Thoughts-Travels-Semi-Plausible-Writings/dp/B0D2Q3P93Z/">Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023</a></p><p>**</p><p><strong>Where to find us:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/intcpod">https://www.instagram.com/intcpod</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/">https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/">https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/">https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/</a></p><p><a href="https://rossbentley.substack.com/">https://rossbentley.substack.com/</a></p><p><a href="https://speedsecrets.com/">https://speedsecrets.com/</a></p><p>**</p><p><strong>ABOUT THE SHOW:</strong></p><p>It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.</p><p><br></p><p>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.</p><p><br></p><p>We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.</p><p><br></p><p>New episodes every Tuesday.</p>
April 1, 2025
<p>What does a championship-winning IMSA engineer and team director want from a race car? What does he *need* from it? Should those qualities match up? How much race could a race car race if a race car could race cars?</p><p>So many questions. We definitely answer the first two. Maybe also the last one. (Maybe.)</p><p>A good race engineer blends the art of the possible with the science of the probable. INTC co-host Jeff Braun has been perfecting that blend professionally for more than four decades. Along the way, he’s won Daytona, Sebring, and a whole lot else.</p><p>Jeff’s list of favorite cars he’s worked with is too long for a single show, but we make a good dent in it with this ep!</p><p>This show changes format weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “JEFF TELLS A STORY.”</p><p><br /></p><p><strong>RELATED TRIVIA: </strong>If a race car *could* race cars, and a race car *would* race cars, then a race car would race as much car as a race car could race. Or something. Also, every woodchuck I’ve ever met has been an obnoxious little punk.</p><p>This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.</p><p><br /></p><p>**</p><p><strong>Who We Are + Spicy Merch:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.itsnotthecar.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">www.ItsNotTheCar.com</a></p><p><br /></p><p>**</p><p><strong>Support It’s Not the Car:</strong></p><p>Contribute on Patreon <a href="https://www.patreon.com/notthecar" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">www.patreon.com/notthecar</a></p><p><br /></p><p>**</p><p><strong>Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!</strong></p><p><a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">[email protected]</a></p><p></p><p>**</p><p><strong>Check out Sam's book!</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Smithology-Thoughts-Travels-Semi-Plausible-Writings/dp/B0D2Q3P93Z/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023</a></p><p><br /></p><p>**</p><p><strong>Where to find us:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/intcpod" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/intcpod</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/</a></p><p><a href="https://rossbentley.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://rossbentley.substack.com/</a></p><p><a href="https://speedsecrets.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://speedsecrets.com/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>**</p><p><strong>ABOUT THE SHOW:</strong></p><p>It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts.</p><p>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.</p><p>We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.</p><p>New episodes every Tuesday.</p>
Ross Bentley: Performance & Race Driver Coach
Dinner with Racers
Marshall Pruett
Zack Klapman, Matt Farah
Hagerty Media
Spike Feresten
High Performance Academy
TrackTuned.com
Everyday Driver
Doug DeMuro
Dan Prosser and Andrew Frankel
The Race Media Ltd
SiriusXM
Bleav, Carcast
PodcastOne
Pod Engine is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected with any of the podcasts displayed on this platform. We operate independently as a podcast discovery and analytics service.
All podcast artwork, thumbnails, and content displayed on this page are the property of their respective owners and are protected by applicable copyright laws. This includes, but is not limited to, podcast cover art, episode artwork, show descriptions, episode titles, transcripts, audio snippets, and any other content originating from the podcast creators or their licensors.
We display this content under fair use principles and/or implied license for the purpose of podcast discovery, information, and commentary. We make no claim of ownership over any podcast content, artwork, or related materials shown on this platform. All trademarks, service marks, and trade names are the property of their respective owners.
While we strive to ensure all content usage is properly authorized, if you are a rights holder and believe your content is being used inappropriately or without proper authorization, please contact us immediately at [email protected] for prompt review and appropriate action, which may include content removal or proper attribution.
By accessing and using this platform, you acknowledge and agree to respect all applicable copyright laws and intellectual property rights of content owners. Any unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or commercial use of the content displayed on this platform is strictly prohibited.