Colorado, 2025: An IndyCar veteran enters a stanky old stock car in the world’s most famous hillclimb. On his own dime, with his dad as crew. Because he wanted make a point.

Also: Because fun.

800 horses! An ex-Kyle Petty 1990s Winston Cup car! And JR Hildebrand, your 2011 Indy 500 rookie of the year. He finished fourth in class in Colorado, 16th overall. Later, Kurt Busch and Kyle Petty rang his phone. 

(Did Hildebrand know those legends? Nah. They just thought dude was cool.)

Some folks think cars like that don't belong on the mountain. They don't have the brains God gave a goat.

This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “Guest Teaches Everybody.”

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ONBOARD FOOTAGE — TURN IT UP LOUD: https://www.instagram.com/p/DLGEYHBSP-o/

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RELATED TRIVIA: What would a ‘normal’ podcast say here? Probably something like, “We talk about Pikes Peak itself, what makes the mountain special, and what it was like for an IndyCar vet to run as a grassroots club racer after years on the pro side of the sport.”

(Boo hiss. Who wants to be normal?)

This episode was produced by Sam Smith and Mike Perlman.

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Who We Are + Spicy Merch:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.ItsNotTheCar.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Support It’s Not the Car:

Contribute on Patreon ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.patreon.com/notthecar⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think!

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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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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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://speedsecrets.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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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.