If there is one quality every individual or company involved in motorsports has in common, it has to be the ability to recognize and take advantage of unexpected opportunities.
Growing up in Germany in the 1950s, my interest in racing was piqued by newspaper articles about the annual motorcycle race in the nearby port city of Bremerhaven. I was never able to attend the race, and when my family immigrated to the United States in 1957, I figured I’d lost the opportunity to watch motorcycle races.  
I was wrong.
We settled in Bellmore on Long Island when I was 10. The following year I had my first chance to attend a professional motorcycle race in Vineland, N.J. Some would say it’s been downhill ever since . . . but not me. I spent a good portion of my teenage years traveling with my Hungarian friend, Laszlo Riesz, to race tracks up and down the East Coast. Needless to say, I became addicted to motorsports.
In 1969, I applied for a job at the Robert Bosch Corporation installing and servicing diagnostic and test equipment. The way I got the job was a little unusual, but I took advantage of a rather unique opportunity to make my case to my future boss, Mr. Ben Bendixen.
The day of my interview, I was waiting in Mr. Bendixen's office. A few minutes later Mr. Bendixen came in and inquired, “Who owns that red Volvo 544 that's parked in my parking space?”  
Since it was my red Volvo 544 in his parking space, my heart stopped and I saw my employment chances fly out of the window. But when Mr. Bendixen noticed my discomfort, he said the 544 had always been one of his favorite cars and asked if I knew anything about adjusting SU carburetors. I did, and the job was mine. Of course, another fact in my favor was that, like me, Mr. Bendixen was originally from northern Germany, where, as he likes to put it, “they speak real German.”
Like me, Mr. Bendixen was a motorsports fan. He was also determined to achieve a broader brand awareness for Bosch, which, as he often said, was always confused with Bausch and Lomb (the eye-care product producer). He was convinced the best way for a company with Bosch’s product line and heritage to achieve that broader awareness was to become involved in motorsports.
With the support of Jo Hoppen, the special vehicles manager of Volkswagen of America, Mr. Bendixen found just the right opportunity to test his beliefs by renaming the Sports Car Club of America’s VW Super Vee series the Bosch Gold Cup. And I found just the right opportunity when Mr. Bendixen asked if I’d be interested in the newly created position of Bosch motorsports manager. I accepted his offer on the spot, without consulting my wife, which was a “slight” error in judgment she has yet to forgive me for.
Along with Super Vee, Bosch got involved in IMSA and Trans-Am, giving the company the additional coverage that these series afforded. For the first time, Bosch spark plugs were winning in Chevy Monzas, Mustangs, Corvettes and Camaros, as well as European imports and Formula Super Vees. The next break was Bosch’s involvement in the IROC series, which gave us the opportunity to work with drivers such as Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Dale Earnhardt.
At an IROC race, I spoke with Mario, who had the idea Bosch should be in Indy-car racing. A few days later we got a call from Mario and Pat Patrick, and our Indy program was founded.
The next natural progression was our NASCAR program, which like so many things in life came from making the most of a modest opportunity. One day, Ernie Elliott called me in search of a Bosch fuel injector. Not only did we have the injector, I told Ernie we also had some great spark plugs that would definitely work in his Ford engines. He installed and tested them on a Wednesday and raced them at Darlington that Sunday.  
Bosch took advantage of another opportunity this year and became the provider of the Grand American Road Racing Ass’n’s spec fuel management and data acquisition system.         
Needless to say, we no longer get requests for eye care.