{"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":"Shelby Cobras, Kimi Räikkönen, and Suspension Cork-Sniffing","slug":"shelby-cobras-kimi-r-ikk-nen-and-suspension-cork-sniffing","published_at":"2025-11-04T15:21:11+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-s-not-the-car-6747786/shelby-cobras-kimi-r-ikk-nen-and-suspension-cork-sniffing","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/Shelby-Cobras--Kimi-Rikknen--and-Suspension-Cork-Sniffing-e3ag5u6","audio_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/f02659d0/podcast/play/110679430/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-10-4%2F410581224-44100-2-42ed422330d58.m4a","summary":"How did Ross and a young Kimi Räikkönen end up sharing a fancy London apartment? After 20 years of testing fast cars for a living, which one still makes Sam misty? What really went wrong with Ross’s IndyCar career? Answers to these questions—and more!—in this episode. Probably! Yes! Every so often, INTC does a listener Q+A show. We call that format “NO DUMB QUESTIONS.” This isn’t that. This is Ross and Sam running a weird almost-gameshow and answering uncomfy questions from each other under pressure. *** IN THIS EP: Ross and Kimi — A brake line bursting open in 70-mph L.A. traffic — Ross’s favorite street cars (and why) — How balance is the only thing that matters — a 289 Shelby Cobra — The time Ross watched a Concorde take off from the cockpit of a 747 on final approach — and more! This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “SOME DUMB QUESTIONS.” 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/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://rossbentley.substack.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://speedsecrets.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ** ABOUT THE SHOW: It’s Not the Ca…","meta_description":"How did Ross and a young Kimi Räikkönen end up sharing a fancy London apartment? After 20 years of testing fast cars for a living, which one still makes S…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3454,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/it-s-not-the-car-6747786/episodes/shelby-cobras-kimi-r-ikk-nen-and-suspension-cork-sniffing/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/shelby-cobras-kimi-r-ikk-nen-and-suspension-cork-sniffing.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}