When INTC’s tape day rolled around, Sam was sick. He landed a nasty bout of food poisoning and went wreck-it ralphing. So we postponed our planned show, and then Ross and Jeff hit the mic to improvise.

Their topic? The driver-engineer relationship!

Questions answered in this ep: Why do you need an engineer, anyway? What makes that relationship crucial in pro racing? Should you be embarrassed if you can’t feel a change someone made on your car? What should you do if you’re the only person on your team—both driver *and* engineer? And more!

This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Ross and Jeff Steal the Show.” It’s a good format.

Related trivia: Sam will be back on the show next week. If you don’t like that, you are wrong! This means you, Tom from South Dakota—we know you’re listening!

This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.

**

Support It’s Not the Car:

Contribute on Patreon

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.patreon.com/notthecar⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

**

Check out Sam's new book!

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

**

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 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.

Once, Jeff and Robby Unser tried to qualify a car for the Indianapolis 500. Jeff was the engineer. Unser was the driver.

The car stunk to high heaven.

Unser was scared.

This is that story.

Here now, one man’s experience with the epically uncompetitive Riley & Scott Mk. VII Indy Racing League Indy car. Has Jeff Braun—esteemed INTC host, legendary bus driver, and championship-winning race engineer—met a worse race car? He says no.

This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Jeff Tells a Story.”

Related trivia: Want to read Jeff’s test notes and see his spreadsheets and setup from that Indy 500 attempt? We’ve published those docs on our Patreon. Check ’em out—link below!

This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.

**

Support It’s Not the Car:

Contribute on Patreon

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.patreon.com/notthecar⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

**

Check out Sam's new book!

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

**

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 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.

Gossip time! Why did Ross steal that Ferrari from Chip Ganassi? Just who dropped that tire on Jeff's toe at Daytona and became his sworn enemy for life? Which aging F1 driver did Sam give a wedgie to in the pits at Lime Rock? Listen and find out!

(Warning: This episode may not actually contain the above information.)

This episode's working title was "The Dumbest Things We've Seen in Racing." When we sat down at the mic, it got way more interesting—a discussion about high-pressure environments, room for error, and how "dumb" doesn't always mean what you think.

This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. This format is called “Ross and Jeff Teach Sam a Thing."

Related Trivia: Jeff was at Mosport this weekend with the AWA IMSA Corvettes. Ross was coaching LMP2 remotely from his home in Seattle. Sam was at Road America for the WeatherTech vintage races. Only one of them spilled a Siebken's Root Beer on his shoes and doesn't regret it.

This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.

**

Support It’s Not the Car:

Contribute on Patreon

⁠⁠⁠⁠www.patreon.com/notthecar⁠⁠⁠⁠

**

Check out Sam's new book!

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

**

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 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.