“Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.”

That quote by three time Indianapolis 500 champion Bobby Unser could be the mission statement for Lehighton native and Palmerton High School graduate Brent Wentz as he embarks on yet another one of his historic journeys in motorsports.

Sunday at the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500, Wentz will serve as a spotter for Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver Takuma Sato.

Although he didn’t know it, Wentz has been prepping for this opportunity throughout his 22-year career in racing.

Wentz started his career in 1999 after attending the Bobby Isaac Automotive School in Hickory, NC. He then began working as a mechanic and eventually a car chief in stock car racing.

But in the mid 2000s while working for Roush Racing, Wentz got an opportunity to be a second spotter for Winston Cup champion Matt Kenseth.

“You have to be versatile in this industry, and I think I’ve done a good job of doing whatever any of the teams I worked for needed me to do,” said Wentz. “The person who was supposed to be the second spotter that weekend couldn’t make it, so they were like ‘here you go, we need you to be the second spotter.’

“It’s just one of those situations where you just figure it out, and honestly we hear the spotters every week on the radio, so you have a sense of what the driver is looking for during a race. Then through the years, whenever a team I was working for needed a second spotter – whether on the road courses or bigger tracks - I would take that role.”

Wentz has spent the last seven years of his career with famed racing power Team Penske, working as a mechanic and car chief for the No. 22 Xfinity car and also for the Team Penske affiliated Wood Brothers No. 21 NASCAR Cup Series car.

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, Wentz was recently let go from Team Penske, but he didn’t have to wait long for offers to start pouring in. Among those offers was the once in a lifetime offer to spot for a former Indianapolis 500 champion in Takuma Sato.

“I thought I was going back to work at Penske on Aug. 31, so I was preparing for that,” said Wentz. “But then I got this offer to spot at the Indy 500. It was definitely a shock, andI was surprised for sure. But racing is a business and sometimes this stuff happens.

“I’ve always prided myself on never burning any bridges at any of the places I’ve worked, and I think that was a big reason why I’ve gotten this opportunity. I think when you’re nice to people, good things happen.

The contacts inside the industry that Wentz has remained friends with during his career paid off.

“It was crazy how everything worked out,” said Wentz. “It started with some NASCAR contacts of mine, and spread by word of mouth. Then I got a call asking if I was interested to spot because Rahal Letterman Lanigan needed a guy. I sent my resume over and then the ball started rolling.”

Wentz has spotted at Indianapolis Motor Speedway before, but only that’s was for a NASCAR race. On Sunday, the open-wheel IndyCars will be turning much faster laps than the NASCAR Cup Series.

Nazareth, PA native Marco Andretti won the pole for Sunday with a four-lap average of 231.068 miles per hour (mph). In 2019, Kevin Harvick won the pole for NASCAR’S Brickyard 400 with a qualifying time of 185.766 mph.

With the extreme difference in speed, spotting for an IndyCar will be much different than a stock car

“The most difficult thing at first was trying to figure out other than our driver, which drivers were in which cars,” said Wentz. “I follow the IndyCar Series, but with me being in NASCAR, it’s not like I was watching every week. So that obviously took some getting used to over the past few weeks.

“The speed is definitely different; I mean you have some cars going 240 mph at times, but I’ve done well acclimating myself to that. So far, everything has gone smoothly and I haven’t heard any complaints from anyone, and the other spotter and I have clicked really well, which is key.”

Wentz has been a part of some significant moments in his racing career, including being a winning team member for the 2009 and 2012 Daytona 500 while with driver Matt Kenseth at Roush Racing. He was also a 2014 Xfinity championship team member with driver Chase Elliott for JR Motorsports.

But helping Sato win the Indianapolis 500 would perhaps be his most iconic achievement in an already extraordinary racing career.

If Sato is able to pull off his second career Indianapolis 500 victory, Wentz could potentially be the last voice Sato hears, as he crosses the finish line, as Wentz will be spotting for the final two turns of the racetrack.

With Sato showing good speed and qualifying third, that could very well be the case on Sunday.

“If we’re able to win this race, I honestly just might move home and work at Wentz Auto Body again, because I don’t think it will get any better than that,” said Wentz. “I don’t know how you can top being a part of an Indy 500 win.”

Fortunately for the racing world, it’s almost certain that Wentz was joking. Because his past has proven that if he is given the opportunity to work for a race team, success follows.