{"podcast":{"title":"It's Not the Car","slug":"it-s-not-the-car-6747786","podcast_index_feed_id":6747786,"rss_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/f02659d0/podcast/rss","website_url":"https://www.itsnotthecar.com","image_url":"https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_nologo/40190452/40190452-1704583104013-fbbc87158798b.jpg","author":"Sam Smith, Ross Bentley, Jeff Braun","episode_count":109,"summary":"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. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer with time in NASCAR and IMSA. Sam Smith is an award-winning journalist, a club racer, and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine. We don’t love motorsport for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-s-not-the-car-6747786"},"episode":{"title":"Crashing Four Times at Your First Indy 500 — w/ Jimmy Kite","slug":"crashing-four-times-at-your-first-indy-500-w-jimmy-kite","published_at":"2025-10-28T15:27:59+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-s-not-the-car-6747786/crashing-four-times-at-your-first-indy-500-w-jimmy-kite","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-s-not-the-car-6747786","url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/its-not-the-car/episodes/Crashing-Four-Times-at-Your-First-Indy-500--w-Jimmy-Kite-e3a5nn7","audio_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/f02659d0/podcast/play/110337191/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-9-28%2F410132023-44100-2-13f948635f79f.m4a","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! ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠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/thatsamsmith/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/…","meta_description":"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…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3408,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"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","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-s-not-the-car-6747786/crashing-four-times-at-your-first-indy-500-w-jimmy-kite.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}