Once, humans set foot on the moon. Some steely eyed engineer types did some math and took some gambles, and then some steely eyed pilot types sat on a big firework and flew off.
Huge achievement, neat space candle. And that plan—the *strategy*—made it possible.
Related: A host of this show is a pro race engineer. Jeff Braun has won the 12 Hours of Sebring eight times and the 24 Hours of Daytona twice. His résumé includes a whopping ten IMSA / Grand-Am championships.
Race strategy makes Jeff’s job go ’round. So we had him explain it!
This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Instant Expert.”
RELATED TRIVIA: Once, Sam found himself at the end of a grueling enduro. It was the last corner of the last lap; the win was make-or-break. In the heat of battle, he made a strategic choice—he took out two drivers at once. And hey, those little girls were really unhappy about that, but they were also Sam's nine- and eleven-year-old daughters, and that’s how the MarioKart cookie crumbles, rugrats! Boom goes the red-shell dynamite! Dad-strat champion forever!
This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.
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Who We Are + Spicy Merch:
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Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar
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Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!
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Check out Sam's new book!
Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
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Where to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/intcpod
https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/
https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/
https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/
https://rossbentley.substack.com/
https://speedsecrets.com/
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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, 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.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.
New episodes every Tuesday.
