What does a championship-winning IMSA engineer and team director want from a race car? What does he *need* from it? Should those qualities match up? How much race could a race car race if a race car could race cars?

So many questions. We definitely answer the first two. Maybe also the last one. (Maybe.)

A good race engineer blends the art of the possible with the science of the probable. INTC co-host Jeff Braun has been perfecting that blend professionally for more than four decades. Along the way, he’s won Daytona, Sebring, and a whole lot else.

Jeff’s list of favorite cars he’s worked with is too long for a single show, but we make a good dent in it with this ep!

This show changes format weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “JEFF TELLS A STORY.”

RELATED TRIVIA: If a race car *could* race cars, and a race car *would* race cars, then a race car would race as much car as a race car could race. Or something. Also, every woodchuck I’ve ever met has been an obnoxious little punk.

This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.

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Who We Are + Spicy Merch:

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Support It’s Not the Car:

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Check out Sam's book!

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

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Where to find us:

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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.