Crappy Miatas, Endurance Porsches, and Other Fun Diseases – with TJ + Ed from BFGoodrich

This episode is about how racing sucks you in—even (or perhaps especially) if it’s tied to your day job. And never more than with endurance racing.

Last month, BFGoodrich invited Ross and Sam to co-drive a Porsche Boxster in a ChampCar enduro weekend at VIR. 

A lot happened. Way too much! Chiefly, though, our two co-hosts chatted with some smart people. They talked about why everyone from track-day junkies to moonlighting pros bothers to go amateur endurance racing—and why this quirky little corner of the sport has never been larger or more successful.

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00:00 – 32:00 — TJ DENNIS and ED GLISS: Brand manager for BFG’s Ultra-High Performance division (Dennis). A former Michelin test driver turned marketer (Gliss). And two driving die-hards who currently own and track an NB Miata and an E90 BMW M3 on weekends. They get it. 

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32:00 – 49:00 — DAVID KICAK: Former IMSA and Trans-Am driver. Marketing and sponsor manager for the ChampCar Endurance Series. Has known Ross since the 1990s. He also gets it.

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This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. We call this format “IN THE TRENCHES.”

This episode was produced by Sam Smith. 

Thanks, as always, to our friends at BFGoodrich for supporting the show!

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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 other Tuesday.