It's Not the Car

Discover the wild journey of creating a top-secret engine for the 1994 Indy 500, filled with explosions, Paul Tracy's feet melting, and Mario Andretti's stink eye. Dive into the epic story of three clever men who dared to challenge tradition and actually got away with it. Explore unconventional racing strategies, intense pressure in motorsports, and the unique culture at Ilmor that drove them to success.

They do! But first: SAM HAS A NEW BOOK OUT. It’s called “Smithology”—available now on Amazon in print and as a Kindle e-book. Check it out, if you have a sec? This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Sam Tells a Story.” And in this case, that story is another dive into all the stuff you wanted to know about car magazines but never had a chance to ask. Jeff and Ross have questions on the topic. Sam hates talking about himself and is convinced that these questions are simply data collection in prep for the day where Jeff and Ross build a robot to replace him. If we are lucky, they will program that robot to be significantly less annoying and also capable of remembering to start the dishwasher at night. Related Trivia: This episode description was written by Sam’s wife, Adrienne, who is nothing at all like Sam, which is to say, she is very nice and generally coherent. 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. 

The catch: We’re the fans. (Bet you didn’t see that coming.) “If you have the chance to make something beautiful,” Dan Gurney once said, “and you don’t, well, what does that say about you?” This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. This episode’s format is called "How I Got Here." It’s a free-form dive into the people, places, moments, and machines that made us care about racing when we were young. In this case, that means the one and only Daniel Sexton Gurney—the legendary American driver and team owner who changed how we view optimism and the art of the possible. (Gurney's resume is a mile long, but among so much else, he remains the only American to win an F1 race in a car of his own construction.) Also: This one is just Sam and Jeff. Ross was busy doing something at tape time but didn’t tell us what. Because Ross is Canadian, I now get to type the words, “He was obviously writing his poutine manifesto.” ***CORRECTION ALERT: In this episode, Sam commits a verbal typo and transposes Dan's Spa F1 win to 1968. It was, of course, 1967. Sam is a moron. He has a poster from that race on the wall in his house and has known that fact since he was eight. Feel free to shame him publicly.*** Related Trivia: No trivia this week. Sam writes these episode descriptions and his wife is currently in bed with strep throat, so he’s a bit brain-dead from simultaneously working, taking care of a sick lady, and solo parenting two kids in grade school hold on a sec I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU, STOP EATING BEANS AND THEN SITTING ON YOUR SISTER’S HEAD, OKAY? Sorry, where were we? 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. 

Once, in the 1990s, a fancy 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 particularly expressive hand gestures and the Italians agreed to do it—but just this once, and then you gotta vaffanculo, alright? The shrieking red funkbullet that resulted won much and made a noise to eat your brain. Hold onto your butts: Today, we tell the story of the Ferrari 333 SP, the last purpose-built racing Ferrari 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 11,000-rpm V-12 sounded like a Formula 1 car because it came from—wait for it—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.”  Related Trivia: Ross’s 333 came with a factory man named Renzo. Renzo was there to mind the engine. Jeff later engineered the same chassis, with the same Renzo, but Ross had found another ride by then. Sam was once driving a Ferrari 488 in a track test when a wheel came off at 100 mph, but that’s unrelated. (Joke maybe three people will get: “It’s-a me! Gnar-io!”) 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. 

Step one: Know you might die trying. In 1993, at the tender age of 36, a host of this show tried to qualify for one of the greatest races on earth. He didn’t make it in, but he did lap a 900-hp car at more than 220 mph, suffer third-degree burns on his face, and meet a hospital. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was your month of May? (No, really: That’s what we asked Ross to talk about—the Indy 500 rookie experience. The flames that nearly killed him were just part of the story.) This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Ross Teaches Sam About a Thing.” Related Trivia: Jeff calls himself a bus driver as a joke in this episode, but he really does own a bus. Ross occasionally calls himself a “bear of very little brain,” but he’s actually quite smart. Sam calls himself an adult, but then, he occasionally eats Haribo before breakfast as his kids cheer him on, so we all know how that one shakes out. 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. 

“He was the craziest devil I ever came across in Formula 1.” —Niki Lauda Gilles Villeneuve got his start racing snowmobiles, crashing on sheet ice at 100 mph. Enzo Ferrari loved him; Ronnie Peterson said he was a menace. And in upstate New York in the fall of 1979, in blinding rain, an entire F1 paddock stopped what it was doing to watch him do what no one else could. 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, Villeneuve’s absolutely epic qualifying session at the muddy, rain-drenched ’79 U.S. Grand Prix. (Spoiler: He went nearly 10 seconds faster than his teammate—who had just locked the championship—in conditions so awful that most drivers never left the pits.) Related Trivia: Like Gilles, Ross is Canadian. Like Enzo, Jeff looks great in sunglasses. Sam knows every word to the Canadian sea-shanty folk anthem “Barrett’s Privateers” and has loved that song since childhood but will only sing it in public on G.V.’s birthday—oh hell, who am I kidding, I sing that ridiculous thing any chance I get  OH THE YEAR WAS 1778 / HOW I WISH I WAS IN SHERBROOKE NOWWWWWWWWW  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. 

Discover the charm of Wisconsin's Road America racetrack and the allure of its unique features. Hear about personal experiences driving through challenging corners and the thrilling racing incidents at the track. Get insights into track design dynamics and the nostalgic charm of historic racetracks like Road America, Sebring, and Watkins Glen.

Answer: The blowy thing goes WHOOSH and the invisible gas that keeps us all alive goes WHEEE and the racey thing stays put. And later, if you have done the math right, you maybe drive around in circles better than everyone! Alternate, more grown-up answer: physics and stuff. This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. This week's approach is called “Jeff Teaches Sam a Thing.” Jeff knows a lot about a subject—in this case, how race teams use indoor wind to develop aerodynamic downforce—and Sam asks questions. Warning: We get lightly tech-nerdy here. Related Trivia: Every host of this show is a father. And so I ask you fine people, in the name of Bernoulli and Pocahontas and all that is holy, tell me, what color is the wind? Blew! Get it? DAD JOKE! (If any of you actually read these episode descriptions, please email INTCpod@gmail.com and let Sam know. It gets lonely at this keyboard.) Ross is off this week. We miss him.  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, motorsport, and how we all work under pressure. In other words, 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. 

It’s another “No Dumb Questions!” You email us to ask, we sit down to answer. There are no dumb questions, but there might be some dumb answers. Today’s focus is . . . going faster with data and friends! Many race teams use data feeds to help their drivers improve. (Examples: brake pressure; speed over time; the four-dimensional thermocouple plot that lets Toto Wolff know just how far down to unbutton his shirt.) Can those data systems lie? Can friends at the track help you get faster? And what does any of this have to do with Sam’s mom? This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. For this episode, we’re borrowing the NDQ framework from Ross’s old “Speed Secrets” podcast, from a popular Q&A show he and Jeff ran there for several years. NEWS: This episode marks the last Q&A on the standard (i.e., free) INTC show feed. Going forward, new Q&A shows will appear as monthly bonus episodes for members of our Patreon. Link below! Related Trivia: Ross and Jeff have known each other since the 1990s. They’ve traveled down the road and back again; their hearts are true, they are pals and confidants. Also—this is completely unrelated—if this podcast were a TV show, Sam would totally be played by the ghost of Estelle Getty. This episode was produced by Mike Perlman, who was born after “The Golden Girls” went off the air and won’t get that reference but we love him anyway. **  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, motorsport, and how we all work under pressure. In other words, 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. 

“It will never have enough . . . until I can spin the wheels at the end of the straightaway in high gear.” A man named Mark said that. Mark engineered and drove race cars. In the early 1970s, he was handed a barely drivable, 700-hp Porsche. Because Mark had a brain the size of a planet, he made the car a blisteringly fast, 1500-horse dollbaby. It was so good, in fact, that it killed a prestigious international racing series deader than hell. What happened in between is utterly bonkers. 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, Mark Donohue, Roger Penske, and the 230-mph Can-Am Porsche 917s of 1972–1973. Related Trivia: Jeff met Mark once, long ago, when he was a little Jeff. When Sam was a younger Sam, he went to Sears Point to drive a factory-owned 917K (not the Can-Am car) but got rained out and was sad. Ross was never younger or older and has always been an ageless sage; he’s basically a Galápagos tortoise who really likes trail braking. 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.