It's Not the Car
by Sam Smith, Ross Bentley, Jeff Braun
Latest episode
The Nerd-Out Deep Dive — Explaining an IMSA Race Strategy
The Nerd-Out Deep Dive — Explaining an IMSA Race Strategy
About this podcast
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, a club racer, 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.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 121 episodes
- The Nerd-Out Deep Dive — Explaining an IMSA Race Strategy · 51 min · Season 3 Episode 119Warning: This one’s for the nerds. And us! Because we are nerds. (Perhaps you hadn’t noticed? In which case, bless you, my sweet summer child.) This episode has everything…
- How to Build a Racing School · 49 min · Season 3 Episode 118How do you build a racing school from scratch? INTC co-host Ross Bentley has done it multiple times—and he famously helped start Washington State’s world-renowned DirtFish Rally…
- Battling Fear at the Wheel — with Tom Roberts · 55 min · Season 3 Episode 117You’re not scared. Right? Tom Roberts is a driver coach, an aerobatic pilot, a racer, a Buddhist, a former dentist, and a student of fear at the wheel. His new book, From Fear to…
- Catch-Up Show! — Nürburgring Recap, Burnout Advice, and Jeff’s Big Announcement · 53 min · Season 3 Episode 116Big announcement in this one, kids! No spoilers! Especially not having to do with the one and only Roger Penske, no sir! This is one of our rare “chat” shows—Jeff, Ross, and Sam…
- IndyCar’s Bravery Problem — with RACER founder Paul Pfanner · 35 min · Season 3 Episode 115This summer, for the first time in 15 years, IndyCar unveiled a new chassis. The Dallara IR-28 has a chance to change everything about the world’s fastest wheel-to-wheel racing…
- Crappy Miatas, Endurance Porsches, and Other Fun Diseases — with TJ + Ed from BFGoodrich · 50 min · Season 3 Episode 114This episode is about how racing sucks you in—even (or perhaps especially) if it’s tied to your day job. And never more than with endurance racing. Last month, BFGoodrich invited…
- FREE BONUS: The Hyper-Nerdy Sim Racing FAQ — with Balázs Remenyik · 25 min · Season 3 Episode 113Balázs Remenyik is a professional sim racer and the official simulator development driver for the Citroën Formula E team. He’s also chief instructor at the Speed Secrets Sim…
- You're Wrong About Sim Racing · 54 min · Season 3 Episode 112Some love it, some hate it. You’re probably doing at least part of it wrong, even if you’re good at it. Twenty years ago, INTC co-host Ross Bentley was a beta tester for the…
- How to Get a Job in Racing — Ashley Baily, IMSA Tire Specialist · 55 min · Season 3 Episode 111Once, Ashley Baily was a pastry chef. Now she’s the 26-year-old, Daytona-winning tire chief for an IMSA Corvette team. Landing that leap took guts, passion, and five years of…
- What it Feels Like to Quit Le Mans · 47 min · Season 3 Episode 110INTC’s Jeff Braun had to do it. Just a few weeks ago, only a few hours into that epic race, with a car still fast and healthy. The 24 Hours of Le Mans. A GT3 Corvette. Months of…
- Sliding Hoopties with a NASCAR Legend — (Live in Grattan, MI - 6/13/26) · 1 h 1 min · Season 3 Episode 109LIVE from a Porsche Club of America weekend at Grattan Raceway on June 13, 2026! * Want the INTC gang to come to *your* event and tape a show? Drop a line – [email protected] !…
- The 10 Greatest Myths in Racing · 1 h 4 min · Season 3 Episode 108It’s another mythbusting episode! Ten classic racing myths, ten rapid-fire shoot-downs, no prisoners whatsoever. Your answers, as always, come from INTC’s resident paddock…
- Getting Used to Big Power · 46 min · Season 3 Episode 107Why are some drivers fast in everything? What makes a person quick in Miatas but not Mustangs—or vice versa? How do the pros wrap their heads around big jumps in speed, power…
- "Don't Drive It, You're Going to Die" · 60 min · Season 3 Episode 106Our favorite race cars—the ones that stick out, from all the stuff we’ve driven. This is an episode about many things. Love. Hate. Jeff’s mouse-filled Triumph Spitfire. The 1970s…
- What the Hell is Going on With Formula 1? · 51 min · Season 3 Episode 105This is what: Three races into 2026, the FIA is trying to fix what it broke. Because everyone hates it. (Ross goes on a rant in this one! Ross *never* goes on rants!) Here’s a…
- Saying No to a $20 Million Porsche · 54 min · Season 3 Episode 104We call this "Take Your Podshow to Work Day." Three stories of weird days on the racing job—one from each of our hosts. Once, Sam had the chance to drive a 230-mph Le Mans…
- Jeff and the Glorious Mazda Fail-Diesels · 48 min · Season 3 Episode 103Ten years ago, INTC's Jeff Braun helped a Japanese carmaker go IMSA racing with a 180-mph diesel prototype. The car was cool. More than 700 lb-ft of torque at 2800 rpm. Gobs of…
- How Pro Race Cars Blow Up! · 57 min · Season 3 Episode 102The short answer? Use, abuse, and every way but loose. (But sometimes also loose.) This podshow has three hosts. One of them, Jeff Braun, has won Sebring, Daytona, and multiple…
- The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of Jeff’s Car on Fire · 49 min · Season 3 Episode 101Jeff's Daytona 2026 Pit-Wall RECAP: With special guest—and Jeff Braun co-worker—Andrew Wojteczko, of AWA Racing and IMSA Corvette team 13 Autosport! January 2025: Against…
- Postwar Madness on Public Roads — (1948 Watkins Glen GP) · 1 h 33 min · Season 3 Episode 100If you do nothing else, listen to the beginning of this episode. The first few minutes. Maybe with a large drink in your hand. A tiny town in upstate New York. A dapper man with…
