Bruce Martin
Particular to FOXSports.com
INDIANAPOLIS — When the Borg-Warner Trophy appeared for the primary time in Victory Lane after the 1936 Indianapolis 500, it had loads of room on the unique trophy to show the faces of the profitable drivers, starting with Ray Harroun in 1911.
However it ran out of room on the unique trophy after Bobby Rahal received the Indianapolis 500 in 1986.
The answer was to mount the 80-pound, 4-foot-tall trophy on a further base, starting with the 1987 Indianapolis 500.
Rahal was the final driver’s face on the unique trophy and Al Unser the primary on the bottom after he received his fourth Indy 500 in 1987.
At present, the Borg-Warner Trophy is 110-pounds and 5-foot-four-inches-and-three-quarters tall.
As every Indianapolis 500 has handed and extra winners have been added to the bottom of the trophy, it’s going to as soon as once more run out of area in 2034.
BorgWarner’s inventive group is engaged on an answer when the bottom fills up with the addition of a second base that may characteristic the winner of the 2035 Indianapolis 500 as its first face.
“We’re nonetheless throwing that round — what the second base goes to seem like. However the final time we did this, we added on an entire extra base, which makes the trophy stand even taller, permitting for a lot of extra faces to come back,” BorgWarner CEO Joseph Fadool mentioned Saturday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “Between from time to time, we’ll determine the fitting method to do it or possibly one thing a bit bit totally different.
“The distinctive factor over time, the trophy truly grows in dimension and stature and significance, so I feel it is simply becoming for the significance of Indy.”
The Borg-Warner Trophy is mostly a measurement of time and the historical past of the Indianapolis 500. Every face represents a distinct story, a distinct period and a glimpse again in time.
“What an effective way to place that,” Fadool mentioned. “As we talked about, the trophy is rising in stature, rising bodily, changing into much more necessary over time and simply represents excellence and teamwork, which is all that takes to win this race.
“We’re simply proud to be part of it, and I do know all of our BorgWarner staff simply like to be part of this INDYCAR Collection, particularly right here on the Indianapolis 500.”
All of it started again in 1935. Earlier than the Borg-Warner Trophy, there was the Wheeler-Schebler Trophy.
It was initially awarded to the chief of the race on the 400-mile mark. It was retired when proprietor Harry Hartz received it 3 times. The Borg-Warner Trophy was commissioned in 1935 and formally turned the annual prize for Indianapolis 500 victors in 1936.
The Artwork Deco design of the Borg-Warner Trophy consists of wings on the aspect that symbolize the pace of flight. However essentially the most distinctive characteristic was the sculpted faces representing every of the 24 drivers who had already received the race when the trophy debuted in 1936.
The driving force that received it that day was Louie Meyer, the primary three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. As the brand new Borg-Warner Trophy was positioned on the again of his profitable race automotive, Meyer requested for a chilly bottle of buttermilk, changing into the primary driver to have milk as his victory celebration after profitable the Indianapolis 500.
Two nice traditions have been created on the identical day in 1936.
Since then, each race winner has had his face added to this iconic trophy, which has turn out to be the image for reaching the top of efficiency.
Winners don’t get to take the Borg-Warner Trophy dwelling. It stays on everlasting show on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.
Successful drivers and group homeowners obtain a sterling silver reproduction of the trophy which is fondly known as the Child Borg. After the winner’s sterling silver picture is hooked up to the principle trophy, a duplicate picture is hooked up to the Child Borg’s lacquered wooden base.
William Behrends has been sculpting the faces of the Indy 500 winners since 1990. The 2024 winner, Josef Newgarden, was the thirty fifth face he has sculpted for the trophy.
Behrends, who started sculpting when he was 26 years previous, has been commissioned to immortalize all kinds of topics. These topics embrace Baseball Corridor of Famer Willie Mays, automotive pioneer Henry Ford II, golf legend Bobby Jones, and Supreme Courtroom Justice John Marshall, who was Chief Justice of the US from 1801 to 1835. Behrends grew up in Wisconsin and has all the time had a particular place in his coronary heart for the “Best Spectacle in Racing.”
“Rising up within the Midwest, I used to be all the time conscious of the Indianapolis 500,” Behrends mentioned. “The primary race I actually seen was 1963 when Parnelli (Jones) received. I used to be actually fascinated by him and that win caught in my reminiscence.
“Annually I stay up for working with the Indy 500 winner to seize his feelings and spirit to allow them to be a part of the Borg-Warner Trophy for years and years to come back.”
Then, there may be the story of Jack Mackenzie, who was as soon as the caretaker of the Borg-Warner Trophy.
Mackenzie was a pupil at Butler College in Indianapolis when he turned the caretaker of the trophy in 1953. He earned $75 for his first yr in that position and was accountable for transporting the trophy to numerous occasions all through the month of Might.
Mackenzie saved the 80-pound sterling silver trophy in his dorm room at his fraternity home. He hauled it round city within the backseat of his automotive, typically overlaying it with a military blanket for added safety.
Regardless of his finest efforts, the trophy as soon as vanished from his room within the fraternity home. Mackenzie mentioned when he returned dwelling from a date, the Borg-Warner Trophy was lacking.
He ultimately discovered it within the basement of his fraternity home the place it was getting used as an impromptu consuming vessel.
Mackenzie relinquished his trophy duties following the 1983 Indianapolis 500 saying on the time, “I’ve had my enjoyable, I’ve loved going to all of the totally different actions related to the speedway. It is time to let any individual else have some enjoyable.”
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has maintained management of the Borg-Warner Trophy ever since.
“It is one thing all of the drivers stay up for having their face on if they will win the Indianapolis 500,” Indianapolis Motor Speedway and INDYCAR President Doug Boles mentioned.
Bruce Martin is a veteran motorsports author and contributor to FOXSports.com. Observe him on X at @BruceMartin_500.
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