It's Not the Car

Tony Quiroga is the editor-in-chief of Car and Driver. For the last 18 years, his magazine has rented Virginia International Raceway once a year. And each time, they’ve spent three days—normal people, not pro drivers—flogging the best new fast cars, lapping nonstop and chasing time. Sound like a dream day? A pile of stress? Tony is an old friend of INTC, and he says C/D’s annual “Lightning Lap” test is… both! This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. Are we doing a run of guest episodes this fall because it sounded like fun? We are!  Related Trivia: Sam and Tony once worked together Car and Driver. Later, they worked together at Road & Track. Then it was C/D again. If time is a flat circle, then car magazines are a… flat skidpad, I guess? This episode was produced by Mike Perlman. ** 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 new 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 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.

Once, humans set foot on the moon. Some steely eyed engineer types did some math and took some gambles, and then some steely eyed pilot types sat on a big firework and flew off. Huge achievement, neat space candle. And that plan—the *strategy*—made it possible. Related: A host of this show is a pro race engineer. Jeff Braun has won the 12 Hours of Sebring eight times and the 24 Hours of Daytona twice. His résumé includes a whopping ten IMSA / Grand-Am championships. Race strategy makes Jeff’s job go ’round. So we had him explain it! This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Instant Expert.” RELATED TRIVIA: Once, Sam found himself at the end of a grueling enduro. It was the last corner of the last lap; the win was make-or-break. In the heat of battle, he made a strategic choice—he took out two drivers at once. And hey, those little girls were really unhappy about that, but they were also Sam's nine- and eleven-year-old daughters, and that’s how the MarioKart cookie crumbles, rugrats! Boom goes the red-shell dynamite! Dad-strat champion forever!  This episode was produced by Mike Perlman. ** 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 new 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 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.

In this episo… ah, screw it. Cut to the chase: Do you know what a Mazda R26B rotary sounds like? Four rotors of fury! The littlest beer keg that could! The 700-horse shrieker from the first Japanese car to win Le Mans! BEEOWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!  Except… louder. Nastier. You hear that noise even once, it makes a bee-line for the whoopy-monkey core of the human brain and lives there forever. So we got ourselves here yep a story about that. This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. This episode is our monthly deep dive into an epic moment from racing history. In this case, the time an underfunded Japanese carmaker and a strange little engine design went to France and slayed 200-mph giants. RELATED TRIVIA: Sam once track-tested a real live Mazda 787. Ross used to own Mazda RX-7. And in 2014 and 2015, Jeff was competition director for the factory-backed Mazda SpeedSource diesel IMSA prototypes. *** CORRECTION: Sam got the location of Hiroshima wrong here; it's actually quite far from Tokyo and a large city on its own. That was off-the-cuff brain fart and not from his notes, please forgive us. (What's more: Sam has been to Japan multiple times and knows better.) This episode was produced by Mike Perlman. ** 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 new 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 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.

Corner by corner, inch by inch, one of the greatest tracks in the world. We’ve got thousands of laps there. Walk the track with us! What makes Laguna Seca so great? Is the answer . . . California? The mountains? Memories of Mario, getting loose in Turn 9, that cotton-candy morning fog, or how the rear axle just snap-crackle-pops into the Corkscrew on trailed brake?  Yes! And so much else, right? This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this ep's format “Walking the Track.” In this installment, Sam and Ross destitch their love for a deeply American, deeply Californian, and deeply wonderful track. You will learn where the apexes are, if you don’t already know. But that’s the least interesting part. ***YOUR RELATED TRIVIA STARTS NOW*** Ross has strolled Laguna’s pavement countless times while teaching people to go fast there. Sam once got yelled at by track security for daring to walk a lap at sunset, on a club-race weekend, after everyone had gone home. (Not allowed, they said. Which is ridiculous, but also, in that case, why were the gates open? Boo hiss.) This episode was produced by Mike Perlman. ** 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 new 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 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 journalist 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.