Episode
Crashing Four Times at Your First Indy 500 — w/ Jimmy Kite
- Podcast
- It's Not the Car
- Published
- Oct 28, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 3408
- Processing state
not_requested
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/it-s-not-the-car-6747786/episodes/crashing-four-times-at-your-first-indy-500-w-jimmy-kite/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-s-not-the-car-6747786/crashing-four-times-at-your-first-indy-500-w-jimmy-kite.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
Jimmy Kite crashed four times—four!—trying to qualify for the 1998 Indy 500. The story of how he finally made the show holds bad luck and trashed cars but also a hidden concussion, a giant fireball, an airborne gearbox, and a fat dose of can-do spirit. Plus: INTC co-host Jeff Braun! Jeff was Kite’s chief engineer that year. So we brought Jimmy onto the show and asked him and Jeff to tell the whole tale. Kite was a 22-year-old sprint-car kid from Missouri who came up on dirt and had just been crowned 1997 USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the Year. A year before the Speedway, he had never driven a downforce car. And Jeff… well, Jeff was impressed! *** IN THIS EP: That big, sexy fireball — A nervous mother — Jeff explaining suspension heave re: downforce — Dallara’s IRL monoshock — A red-hot differential aiming for low-Earth orbit — Jeff running somebody out of gas — TV announcers joking, on-air, that a 22-year-old driver looks 15 — Jeff looking happy on TV — and more! This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “JEFF PHONES A FRIEND.” This episode was produced by Sam Smith. ** Who We Are + Spicy Merch: www.ItsNotTheCar.com ** Support It’s Not the Car: Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar ** Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think! [email protected] ** 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/thatsamsmith/ https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/ https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/…