It's Not the Car
Hosted by Jeff Braun and Ross Bentley and Sam Smith and Ross · Sam Smith, Ross Bentley, Jeff Braun
4.9from 371 ratings
- 119
- Episodes
- 99
- Transcribed
- 371
- Ratings
- Daily
- Cadence
- 2024
- First episode
- 115K
- YouTube views
About It's Not the Car
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.
- Publisher
- Sam Smith, Ross Bentley, Jeff Braun
- Category
- sports
- Language
- en
- Explicit
- No
- First episode
- 9 Jan 2024
- Latest episode
- 30 Sept 2026
Latest episodes
99 of 119 episodes have a transcript.
30 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT
Battling Fear at the Wheel — with Tom Roberts
15 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT
Catch-Up Show! — Nürburgring Recap, Burnout Advice, and Jeff’s Big Announcement
2 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT
IndyCar’s Bravery Problem — with Paul Pfanner
Inside a recent episode
Battling Fear at the Wheel — with Tom Roberts
Published 30 Sept 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] And if you're listening to this and you're not familiar with flow state, we actually had one of Dr. Csikszentmihalyi's Former co-workers, mentees, and eventual research partner on this show, I believe it was Ross, might have been over a year ago, a little over a year ago? I think it was, yeah, a year and a half or so ago, yeah. Her name was Dr. Sue Jackson, but the whole concept is remarkable, and this kind of sums it up. It goes, flow is being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away, time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. […]
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See plansWho has been a guest on It's Not the Car
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
- Tom Roberts
- Paul Pfanner
- TJ Dennis
- Ed Gliss
- David Kicak
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
- YouTube views
- 115,358
- Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
- Apple Podcasts (US)
- 4.9 / 5
- 170 ratings
- Spotify
- 4.9 / 5
- 201 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 73 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
- Quality
- 73
- Social presence
- 0
- YouTube
- 86
- Engagement
- 98
Contact It's Not the Car
- Guest appearances
- Does not typically book guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
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Questions about It's Not the Car
Who hosts It's Not the Car?
Jeff Braun and Ross Bentley and Sam Smith and Ross host the show. Published by Sam Smith, Ross Bentley, Jeff Braun.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes daily, based on its RSS feed.
Does It's Not the Car take guests?
The show does not typically feature guests, based on episode analyses.
Where can I read transcripts?
99 of 119 episodes have a transcript on Pod Engine. Full transcripts are available with a Pod Engine plan.
Host of It's Not the Car?
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