WE HAVE A MERCH STORE NOW: ⁠https://www.itsnotthecar.com/⁠

You asked, we delivered! . . . is exactly what we will tell the authorities.

*** 10% OFF ALL ORDERS FOR THE FIRST WEEK ***

BRIEF SALES PITCH: Sam built a website. That site holds both useful info about INTC and driving-adjacent merchandise. Sam wrote every word there and designed all of our merch.

Is he a seasoned design professional, you ask? No.

Our advice: Visit ⁠ItsNotTheCar.com⁠ not to support this podshow or engage in the unparalleled joy of commerce, but to marvel at the garage-couture trainwreck therein. Or . . . to read a lengthy excerpt from the lyrics of the 1957 Broadway musical “The Music Man.”

(Perhaps you think that last line is a joke. I assure you it is not.)

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, the time in 1999 when three Mercedes-Benz Le Mans prototypes left the ground at nearly 200 mph and hurtled dozens of feet into the air.

(Our “normal” episode descriptions will return next week.)

Related Trivia: ⁠ItsNotTheCar.com⁠ also contains trivia. Did you know that Ross has coached fighter pilots? Or that Jeff has won the 12 Hours of Sebring eight times?

Sam is writing these words and will share his own trivia here in a sec even though he absolutely loathes talking about himsel—OH LORD WHAT IS THAT LOOK OVER THERE oh whew nevermind it was nothing but hey gosh gee darn now wouldn’t you know it, we’re out of space

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

**

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/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 a world-renowned performance coach and author. Jeff Braun is a champion 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.

UPDATE: Audio issues fixed!

Formula 1 can be so boring. The King Mother-Humper of dull TV, with so much unknown: Why is Danny Ric slow now? Are those cars battling, or does it just look that way? How many different hairstyles can Lando Norris possibly have, and why does every single one make him look like a dapper little cutie patootie?

Here’s the catch: Every broadcast holds answers. And when you know how to find them, F1 gets *way* better.

INTC co-host Ross Bentley is a professional driver coach. He gets paid to watch racing, and he sees things in F1 that you don’t. Here now, he shares his methods!

This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Instant Expert.”

Related Trivia: Jeff had commitments at tape time, so this one is just Ross and Sam. For the record, Sam needs a haircut. Sam’s wife says he should stop telling the barber to “cut it like Lando,” and that he looks nothing like that kid no matter what they tell him at the local Curl Up and Dye, but she is wrong, you see, even if Sam is middle-aged and balding and his body is basically just a sad quilt of farmer’s tan and coffee stains, and well, er, LOOK, TINY WHITE LIES ARE ALL THAT GET SOME OF US THROUGH THE NIGHT, OKAY? PLEASE JUST LET ME HAVE THIS

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

**

Check out Sam's new book!

⁠⁠⁠Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023⁠⁠⁠

**

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.

What happens when famous actors go fast? Not just Cool Hand Luke. Also Tom Cruise, Patrick Dempsey, and many others, including that guy I can’t remember from that one show. (You know—that dude with the hair and the face?)

Spoiler: There is crashing! But that’s not the point.

Ross has coached Hollywood celebrities. Jeff once worked with Paul Newman himself. Plus, we dip into the weird and wonderful story of the 1977–2016 Long Beach Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race. Which was basically Formula 1, except the part of Max Verstappen was played by Carlton from “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.”

This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Ross Teaches Sam a Thing.”

Related Trivia: Jeff and Sam were at the VIR IMSA race last weekend, working and slapping INTC stickers on children and livestock. So many people found us in the paddock to share how much they enjoy this show! Thank you—we really enjoyed meeting all of you!

(Except you, Tom from South Dakota. You know what you did.)

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

**

Check out Sam's new book!

⁠⁠Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023⁠⁠

**

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.