“I just want to see motorsport be as awesome as it can possibly be… can we make this more meaningful? So there’s more to care about?”

When J.R. Hildebrand says racing is broken, people listen. A few weeks ago, Hildebrand unveiled a discussion project called Blackbird 66. Maybe, he says, the future of motorsport lies in a hella-sexy 1000-horse Indy car with zero downforce. 

Twist my arm.

Hildebrand: 2011 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year, drives a 1960 Cadillac named Rosie. He last hit INTC on Episode 72, when he talked about running a Winston Cup car in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb.

Two things the man believes: One, racing thrives on obvious humanity. And two, aerodynamic downforce has ruined competition and should mostly get flushed.

He's right about both, you know.

(The official answer to the question in this episode’s title: HELL YES WE DO.)

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LINKS FROM THIS EP: 

Blackbird 66: https://www.blackbird66.com/

JRH on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jrhildebrand/

Dan Gurney’s 1979 White Paper: https://legacy.allamericanracers.com/wp/formation-of-cart-dan-gurney/

This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “GUEST TEACHES EVERYBODY.”

This episode was produced by Sam Smith.

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Who We Are + Spicy Merch:

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Check out Sam's book!

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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.