NASCAR and INDYCAR Spotter, Brent Wentz Makes Second Attempt at “The Double”
Kyle Larson, Tony Stewart, and John Andretti are just a few of the drivers who have attempted “The Double,” but what about crew members who have chased the same feat? Brent Wentz, current spotter of the No. 51 Ford Mustang Dark Horse at Rick Ware Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, is no stranger to […]
Kyle Larson, Tony Stewart, and John Andretti are just a few of the drivers who have attempted “The Double,” but what about crew members who have chased the same feat?
Brent Wentz, current spotter of the No. 51 Ford Mustang Dark Horse at Rick Ware Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, is no stranger to racing’s biggest stages. The seasoned spotter has celebrated in victory lane at the Daytona 500 with Matt Kenseth in 2012 and kissed the bricks with Takuma Sato after winning the Indianapolis 500 in 2020. Now, for the second year in a row, he’s attempting one of his greatest feats yet: “The Double”.
The first opportunity presented itself when Wentz signed on as the primary spotter for Rick Ware Racing’s NASCAR Cup Series program. At the time, Team President Robbie Denton and Team Owner Rick Ware had talked about doing “The Double” through a partnership with Dale Coyne Racing. While that plan fizzled out, another path emerged, taking the Pennsylvania native back to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL).
“I always had a relationship with RLL, obviously, working with them in 2020 and 2021,” Wentz explained. “So they’ve always asked me to do it [“The Double”], but logistically, it wasn’t going to happen. And we talked about it with RWR and, you know, we thought it would be a cool story, and something trying to try to do, and they were all about it. Robbie always tells me when you get an opportunity to do those kinds of things we want you to do, and we’re gonna be behind you to do it.”
With both teams’ blessings, and a priority on the Indy 500, Wentz set his sights on completing a successful first go at 1,100 miles of racing from the spotter’s stand. But getting approval from both teams was the least of his worries because Mother Nature was the one who had the final say.
“You watched the weather and knew it was going to rain. I mean, it never changed for 10 days, it said it was going to rain,” Wentz remembered. “So I had an airplane ready for me to go after the race with a couple of sponsors that I knew were going back and forth. And, you know, when the race kept getting pushed back and pushed back and pushed back, you just knew that it wasn’t going to happen.”
As the rain poured in both Indianapolis and Charlotte, Wentz made the decision to stay at “The Brickyard”, taking a commercial flight back home to North Carolina the following day. So, after countless hours of planning, significant personal expenses for travel, and hopeful prayers to the sky, Wentz’s first attempt at “the Double” came up short.
But not all was lost. This year, Wentz is more prepared than ever, armed with last year’s experiences and critical support.
As was the case in 2024, if weather or delays created a scheduling conflict, Rick Ware Racing will have another spotter on standby in Charlotte to take Wentz’s place. This year, that person is Chris Osbourne, spotter for Corey LaJoie when he runs RWR’s unchartered Cup Series entry.
Second, Hendrick Motorsports is stepping in and lending a helping hand when it comes to travel logistics.
“We put a lot of effort and money and things of my own to get going,” he shared about last year’s attempt. “But this year, thankful to Hendrick and all the people there. I’ll be getting on one of their planes after the Indy 500 and flying back with them. They have three planes, so obviously, not Kyle’s [Larson] but one of their airplanes. So logistics-wise, this year, I think it’s going to work out a little bit better.”
With travel and personnel logistics in place, Wentz can now focus on calling the action from the spotter’s stand during one of the biggest weekends in American motorsports. And focus is exactly what he’ll need as he transitions from spotting an open-wheel series on its biggest stage to a stock car series on the same day, at two different tracks, with two entirely different fields of competitors. Though Wentz shares that he uses the same spotting style with both his IndyCar and NASCAR drivers, he does share some of the difficulties of going from one series to another.
“In NASCAR, the drivers know who the other cars are. In IndyCar, you have to tell everybody by name because you don’t see numbers on the back, just a blinking light, you know, a spoiler,” Wentz shared. “So when you’re behind somebody, you really don’t know who you’re behind. You know, NASCAR, you look at the back window, and it’s pretty spot on. You know who you’re racing. So you have to know the cars, you have to know the paint schemes, you have to know the drivers’ names, and that’s how we communicate.”
Though Wentz is well-versed in switching between NASCAR and IndyCar thanks to years of experience spotting in both series, he’ll still be making a late adjustment ahead of this year’s 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 – one that involves a driver change.
Through all of practice and qualifying, Wentz was working with Devlin DeFrancsesco, the driver of the No. 30 for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. On Saturday, the 25-year-old driver managed to place his bright pink and orange DOGECOIN-sponsored car 16th on the grid, the best Indy 500 qualifying effort in his career. Meanwhile, his teammate, Takuma Sato, managed to race his way into the “Fast Six”, and will start from the front row in second.
On the same day, the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner requested that he and Wentz be paired together for the race – a request the team made happen.
“Takuma is a great driver, mentor and friend. I have a lot of respect for him and his career accomplishments. To have him vouch for me is very cool. On the other hand, I really was looking forward to working with Devlin and seeing what we could accomplish next Sunday. We made big gains last week and felt like we had a car capable of competing at a high level in the 500. But it’s business as usual; this is racing, and things will always happen fast. Being versatile and ready when called upon is the name of the game.”
“This was ultimately a decision made by Takuma and RLL with the intentions of having the best communications for the 500 with a great car and starting spot,” Wentz explained. “Nothing was amiss with the 30 or 75 spotter lineups, as this was merely something that came up from past experience and communication in previous 500’s. It’s really no different than any other professional sports, if there is an opinion that fits better in certain situations, use it to better the whole operation if applicable.”
A last-minute change like this could have rattled even the most experienced professionals. But for Wentz, the combination of familiarity with Sato and plenty of practice atop the spotter’s stand at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway has him feeling confident heading into race day.
As he chases the successful completion of “The Double”, Wentz has not lost sight of the magnitude of what he is doing – or what he’s already accomplished at the Indy 500.
“You don’t ever take a step back, right, and look at it all, because you’re so focused on the next week and the next week, right? After the Indy 500, I sat in the airport by myself and took it all in, right? And it kind of got a little emotional, right? Because you don’t see yourself doing these kinds of things, and you’re lucky to have it, you know, you gotta have the support of everyone. You gotta have a supportive family. Because, man, you’re gone so much so, you know chokes me up a little bit, you know?”
Wentz will have plenty of supporters cheering him on this Sunday as he makes his second attempt at “The Double”, starting with the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 at 12:45 PM ET on FOX, followed by the Coca-Cola 600 at 6:00 PM ET on Prime Video.
Michigan International Speedway is scheduled to host its annual NASCAR Cup Series race, the FireKeepers Casino 400, in early June this year, as opposed to mid-August like it has in past years. Michigan did formerly host a June race before it lost its second race date after 2020. Sunday’s race is scheduled to be a […]
Michigan International Speedway is scheduled to host its annual NASCAR Cup Series race, the FireKeepers Casino 400, in early June this year, as opposed to mid-August like it has in past years. Michigan did formerly host a June race before it lost its second race date after 2020.
Sunday’s race is scheduled to be a 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.0-mile (3.219-kilometer) Brooklyn, Michigan oval, and the starting lineup is determined using the regular qualifying format used for non-superspeedway and non-short track ovals.
Qualifying is much more straightforward this year than it has been in past years. Last year, there were qualifying groups and row-by-row lane designation, and there was a second round shootout for the pole position. Additionally, the qualifying order was determined by a four-variable metric used since 2020.
This year, each driver simply makes one single-lap qualifying attempt, and those speeds determine the full 36-driver starting lineup. There are no qualifying groups, no row-by-row lane designations, and no second round shootout. There is also a new qualifying metric which features only two variables.
A full breakdown of the new formula can be found here.
Follow along with our FireKeepers Casino 400 qualifying updates from Michigan.
NASCAR at Michigan: Full starting lineup
1st – Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
2nd – Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
3rd – Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
4th – William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
5th – Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
6th – Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
7th – Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
8th – Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
9th – Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
10th – Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
11th – Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
12th – Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
13th – Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
14th – Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
15th – Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
16th – Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
17th – Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
18th – Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
19th – A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
20th – Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
21st – John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
22nd – Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
23rd – Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
24th – Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford
25th – Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
26th – Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
27th – Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
28th – Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
29th – Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
30th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
31st – Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
32nd – Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
33rd – Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
34th – Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
35th – Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
36th – Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
Amazon Prime Video is set to provide live coverage of the FireKeepers Casino 400 from Michigan International Speedway beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, June 8.
Carson Hocevar living the dream back home in Michigan as aggressive, headline-grabbing NASCAR driver – News-Herald
By LARRY LAGE BROOKLYN, Mich. — Carson Hocevar grew up 80 miles west of Michigan International Speedway, where he attended his first race at the age of 5. As a kid in Portage, he dreamed of becoming a NASCAR driver that people talked about. The 22-year-old Hocevar got his wish. He knocked Ricky Stenhouse Jr. out of […]
By LARRY LAGE BROOKLYN, Mich. — Carson Hocevar grew up 80 miles west of Michigan International Speedway, where he attended his first race at the age of 5. As a kid in Portage, he dreamed of becoming a NASCAR driver that people talked about. The 22-year-old Hocevar got his wish. He knocked Ricky Stenhouse Jr. out of […]
Hamlin undeterred by ruling siding with NASCAR in lawsuit filed by Jordan-owned 23XI and Front Row | National News
BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — Denny Hamlin is unfazed that a three-judge federal appellate panel vacated an injunction that required NASCAR to recognize 23XI, which he owns with Michael Jordan, and Front Row as chartered teams as part of an antitrust lawsuit. “That’s just such a small part of the entire litigation,” Hamlin said Saturday, a […]
BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — Denny Hamlin is unfazed that a three-judge federal appellate panel vacated an injunction that required NASCAR to recognize 23XI, which he owns with Michael Jordan, and Front Row as chartered teams as part of an antitrust lawsuit.
“That’s just such a small part of the entire litigation,” Hamlin said Saturday, a day ahead of the FireKeepers Casino 400. “I’m not deterred at all. We’re in good shape.”
Hamlin said Jordan feels the same way.
“He just remains very confident, just like I do,” Hamiln said.
NASCAR has not commented on the latest ruling.
23XI and Front Row sued NASCAR late last year after refusing to sign new agreements on charter renewals. They asked for a temporary injunction that would recognize them as chartered teams for this season, but the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, on Thursday ruled in NASCAR’s favor.
“We’re looking at all options right now,” Hamlin said.
The teams, each winless this year, said they needed the injunction because the current charter agreement prohibits them from suing NASCAR. 23XI also argued it would be harmed because Tyler Reddick’s contract would have made him a free agent if the team could not guarantee him a charter-protected car.
Hamlin insisted he’s not worried about losing drivers because of the uncertainty.
“I’m not focused on that particularly right this second,” he said.
Reddick, who was last year’s regular-season champion and competed for the Cup title in November, enters the race Sunday at Michigan ranked sixth in the Cup Series standings.
The charter system is similar to franchises in other sports, but the charters are revocable by NASCAR and have expiration dates.
The six teams may have to compete as “open” cars and would have to qualify on speed each week to make the race and would receive a fraction of the money.
Without a charter, Hamlin said it would cost the teams “tens of millions,” to run three cars.
“We’re committed to run this season open if we have to,” he said. “We’re going to race and fulfill all of our commitments no matter what. We’re here to race. Our team is going to be here for the long haul and we’re confident of that.”
The antitrust case isn’t scheduled to be heard until December.
NASCAR has not said what it would do with the six charters held by the two organizations if they are returned to the sanctioning body. There are 36 chartered cars for a 40-car field.
“We feel like facts were on our side,” Hamlin said. “I think if you listen to the judges, even they mentioned that we might be in pretty good shape.”
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Chase Briscoe stays hot in qualifying, claims pole for MIS NASCAR Cup race
Brooklyn — Chase Briscoe earned the pole for Sunday’s Firekeepers 400 NASCAR Cup race at Michigan International Speedway. Briscoe put his Bass Pro Shops No. 19 Toyota into the top spot, circling the two-mile superspeedway with a time of 195.514 on Saturday afternoon. It has been common for Briscoe to win poles in his first […]
Brooklyn — Chase Briscoe earned the pole for Sunday’s Firekeepers 400 NASCAR Cup race at Michigan International Speedway.
Briscoe put his Bass Pro Shops No. 19 Toyota into the top spot, circling the two-mile superspeedway with a time of 195.514 on Saturday afternoon.
It has been common for Briscoe to win poles in his first year with Joe Gibbs Racing, winning his third straight pole, leading the field in the Coca-Cola 600 over Memorial Day weekend in Charlotte, then again Sunday night at Nashville and now at MIS.
“Qualifying has always been a strength of mine,” Briscoe, 30, said. “Noah (Gragson) was first out and he went wide open. I called him up and he said it was easy going wide open. It wasn’t easy for me. My car was on the edge.”
So, what does Briscoe expect Sunday?
“Michigan is it’s own unique animal,” Briscoe said. “The speed comes from the corner speeds, so it’s going to be intense tomorrow. For me. It’s all about maintaining track position, something I haven’t been able to do (during pole winning streak). It’s either some mistake I made, bad pit stops (or something else).”
Briscoe’s future was in doubt last year when Stewart-Haas shut down its operation. Briscoe ended his 73-race winless streak at Darlington and is now looking for his first win with JGR.
Briscoe replaced former Cup champion Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 19 car after Truex retired following last season.
Briscoe has five top-five finishes with a third-place spot at Charlotte. He didn’t fare well at MIS during his four-year career at Stewart-Haas, finishing 11th in 2021, followed by finishes of 20th, 31st and 31st.
While Briscoe is still in search of that first victory which would lock him into the playoffs — the final 10 races of the season to battle for the series championship — Kyle Busch will start second and in search of every single point to make the playoffs, owning the 16th and final spot, but just by two points over Ryan Preece and four more than Carson Hocevar of Portage, Michigan.
More: Portage’s Carson Hocevar gunning for ‘super special’ showing in MIS return
“Michigan is its own unique beast where in the middle of the corner you’re going 185, 186 and that’s flying,” Busch said. “I just went out (for qualifying) and had a good lap, but the race trim is not very fast.”
So what is his chance of winning Sunday’s race?
“It’s OK, but we want to get stage points and that’s been our weakness,” said Busch.
Denny Hamlin, Briscoe’s teammate, will start third (195.328), followed by William Byron (195.238) in a Chevrolet for Rick Hendrick Motorsports and Kyle Larson (195.180) of Hendrick fifth fastest.
Hocevar is one of three drivers trying to become the first Michigan-born driver to win a Cup race at MIS. Former Cup champion Brad Keselowski and Erik Jones are also still trying to win at the Irish Hills’ track.
Hocevar, coming off a second-place finish at Nashville, will start 14th at 195.
Jones (22nd, 194.416) and Keselowski (27th, 194.170) both need wins to earn postseason spots. They had sub-par qualifying runs.
Keselowski became partners with Jack Roush to form RFK Racing (Roush, Fenway, Keselowski) two years ago and has driver Chris Buescher starting sixth.
Firekeepers Casino 400
When: 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn
TV: Prime Video and MAX
Race distance: 200 laps, 400 miles
2024 winner: Tyler Reddick
david.goricki@detroitnews.com
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Hamlin undeterred by ruling siding with NASCAR in lawsuit filed by Jordan-owned 23XI and Front Row
By LARRY LAGE BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — Denny Hamlin is unfazed that a three-judge federal appellate panel vacated an injunction that required NASCAR to recognize 23XI, which he owns with Michael Jordan, and Front Row as chartered teams as part of an antitrust lawsuit. “That’s just such a small part of the entire litigation,” Hamlin […]
BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — Denny Hamlin is unfazed that a three-judge federal appellate panel vacated an injunction that required NASCAR to recognize 23XI, which he owns with Michael Jordan, and Front Row as chartered teams as part of an antitrust lawsuit.
“That’s just such a small part of the entire litigation,” Hamlin said Saturday, a day ahead of the FireKeepers Casino 400. “I’m not deterred at all. We’re in good shape.”
Hamlin said Jordan feels the same way.
“He just remains very confident, just like I do,” Hamiln said.
NASCAR has not commented on the latest ruling.
23XI and Front Row sued NASCAR late last year after refusing to sign new agreements on charter renewals. They asked for a temporary injunction that would recognize them as chartered teams for this season, but the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, on Thursday ruled in NASCAR’s favor.
“We’re looking at all options right now,” Hamlin said.
The teams, each winless this year, said they needed the injunction because the current charter agreement prohibits them from suing NASCAR. 23XI also argued it would be harmed because Tyler Reddick’s contract would have made him a free agent if the team could not guarantee him a charter-protected car.
Hamlin insisted he’s not worried about losing drivers because of the uncertainty.
“I’m not focused on that particularly right this second,” he said.
Reddick, who was last year’s regular-season champion and competed for the Cup title in November, enters the race Sunday at Michigan ranked sixth in the Cup Series standings.
The charter system is similar to franchises in other sports, but the charters are revocable by NASCAR and have expiration dates.
The six teams may have to compete as “open” cars and would have to qualify on speed each week to make the race and would receive a fraction of the money.
Without a charter, Hamlin said it would cost the teams “tens of millions,” to run three cars.
“We’re committed to run this season open if we have to,” he said. “We’re going to race and fulfill all of our commitments no matter what. We’re here to race. Our team is going to be here for the long haul and we’re confident of that.”
The antitrust case isn’t scheduled to be heard until December.
NASCAR has not said what it would do with the six charters held by the two organizations if they are returned to the sanctioning body. There are 36 chartered cars for a 40-car field.
“We feel like facts were on our side,” Hamlin said. “I think if you listen to the judges, even they mentioned that we might be in pretty good shape.”
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
When: 2 p.m. Sunday
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