A race engineer, a driver coach, and a journalist walk into a bar on Memorial Day.

“Ow,” says the journalist.

(Figures. The other two were smart enough to use the door.)

Is this an episode where we break down and analyze this year’s Indy 500 and Monaco Grand Prix? Indeed! Did we do this exact same thing last year? Indeed! 

This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Ripped From the Headlines.”

CLARIFICATION: Shortly after this ep was taped, IndyCar announced tech-violation penalties for this year's 500. Three finishers—Ericsson, Kirkwood, and Illot—lost their original finishing positions and were demoted down the field.

RELATED TRIVIA: The Baird’s Beaked Whale has 13 stomachs. A yak has four. A llama has three stomachs. Are these seemingly random bits of information related to this episode? Listen and find out! (Or don’t. It’s your choice, and we respect that.) 

This episode was produced by Mike Perlman.

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Who We Are + Spicy Merch:

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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.