It's Not the Car

When NASCAR Broke America — (1979 Daytona 500 Fistfight)


Listen Later

This episode has everything: Punches. Pepsi. Snow! Plus, a guy named Cale crashes a 190-mph race car in sneakers and kicks somebody on national TV. 

Naturally, save the snow, this all happens in Florida.

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, that means the 1979 Daytona 500 and the childish, joyous three-driver fistfight that changed NASCAR forever.

RELATED TRIVIA: To hell with trivia this week—we’re just gonna use this space to rattle off every badass old NASCAR first name that’ll fit. Here goes: Dale and Cale and Fireball and LeeRoy and Bobby and Davey and Donnie and Joe and Curtis and Marshall and Lee and Richard and Buddy and Pearson and Benny and Cotton and Junior and Buck and Hershel and AJ and the other Bobby and Harry and Dan and Red and Dick and Weatherly and Rex and the other other Bobby and Ned and the other Lee and you know what? Each and every single one of those dudes knew how to slide a big ol’ Detroit sled like ***nobody’s business***.

And we like that.

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.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

It's Not the CarBy Sam Smith, Ross Bentley, Jeff Braun

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

141 ratings


More shows like It's Not the Car

View all
The Smoking Tire by Zack Klapman, Matt Farah

The Smoking Tire

2,706 Listeners

Everyday Driver Car Debate by Everyday Driver

Everyday Driver Car Debate

2,041 Listeners

Dinner with Racers by Dinner with Racers

Dinner with Racers

908 Listeners

Speed Secrets Podcast by Ross Bentley: Performance & Race Driver Coach

Speed Secrets Podcast

222 Listeners

Spike's Car Radio by Spike Feresten

Spike's Car Radio

1,175 Listeners

Off Track with Hinch and Rossi by SiriusXM

Off Track with Hinch and Rossi

931 Listeners

F1 Beyond The Grid by Formula 1

F1 Beyond The Grid

2,666 Listeners

The Marshall Pruett Podcast by Marshall Pruett

The Marshall Pruett Podcast

547 Listeners

The Intercooler by Dan Prosser and Andrew Frankel

The Intercooler

146 Listeners

The Race IndyCar Podcast by The Race Media Ltd

The Race IndyCar Podcast

108 Listeners

Tuned In by High Performance Academy

Tuned In

141 Listeners

Porsche Club Insider by Porsche Club of America

Porsche Club Insider

125 Listeners

THIS CAR POD! with Doug DeMuro & Friends! by Doug DeMuro

THIS CAR POD! with Doug DeMuro & Friends!

368 Listeners

The Carmudgeon Show by Hagerty Media

The Carmudgeon Show

325 Listeners

The Car Podcast with Chris Harris & Friends by Chris Harris

The Car Podcast with Chris Harris & Friends

129 Listeners