Indianapolis 500 Borg-Warner Trophy Helps Create Brand Identity

One of the grandest trophies in all of sports has been around since 1935 and has gained an iconic stature that is instantly recognizable.

It’s the Borg-Warner Trophy, a stunning work of art that was first introduced in Victory Lane at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway after Louis Meyer’s win in the 1936 Indianapolis 500.

It has been part of the celebration ever since.

The winning driver of each Indianapolis 500 dating all the way back to Ray Haroun in the first running of the world’s greatest race in 1911 are immortalized in sterling silver on the Borg-Warner Trophy.

There is one face cast in gold. It’s Tony Hulman, the man who saved the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500 from extinction when he purchased the shuttered facility from previous owner Eddie Rickenbacker in November 1945.

The Hulman Era began and lasted until November 4, 2019, when the Hulman George Family sold it to current owner Roger Penske, the winningest auto racing team owner in history.

Josef Newgarden of Team Penske will be the next face added to the Borg-Warner Trophy for his thrilling win in the 107^th Indianapolis 500 on May 28, 2023.

It was the first time a Team Penske driver won the Indy 500 since team owner Penske purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Newgarden’s victory extended Penske’ Indy 500 record to 19 wins, starting with the great Mark Donohue in 1972.

The Borg-Warner Trophy exemplifies the great history of the Indianapolis 500.

But it is also creates valuable “business to business” awareness for the international automotive company.

I spoke to BorgWarner
BWA
Director of Global Marketing and Communications Michelle Collins about the value of its relationship with the Indianapolis 500, easily one of the longest-running sponsorships in professional sports history.

“It’s very important for us,” Collins told me. “We are a company that has been around for over 130 years. A lot of things are steeped in tradition and the Borg-Warner Trophy is one of those things. In the past years, I hope we have elevated that and changed some things around a little bit to give it more feeling and exposure to the types of things we do. It’s very important to us and something we will continue doing for as long as we can.

“I think we’ll always do as long as we are able to, as long as the company is around. People know us. A lot of people know us through that connection and some that don’t, it’s a great way to introduce them to our company as well.

“There are a lot of people that don’t make the connection between the trophy and our company, even though it’s the same name. That’s a great opportunity to educate them about it.

“When I inform people about that, they are excited because it’s something tangible they can relate to. It gives me a chance to tell them what the company is all about.”

BorgWarner has added to its vast business profile in recent years, focusing on electrification and hybrid systems around the globe. It has purchased companies that develop and manufacturer Lithium batteries and focused its efforts on the changing dynamic of the automotive industry.

“This shift to electrification is very interesting. BorgWarner does work in every region, every continent, all around the globe,” Collins explained. “Every country is at a different stage of this phase. You see some countries that have a faster pace towards electrification because they have the infrastructure to support that. Then you see a lot of other regions that are going into this hybrid mode, first as a step before they go full electric. It’s a balance of both. I don’t think that it is something that is going to happen every night. It’s different everywhere.

“As this evolves, we are evolving with it and supporting in any way we need to.

This past week at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar, Chevrolet, and Honda continued testing the hybrid assist system that will be added to the Indy cars beginning in 2024. It will combine an electrification united that works off capacitors, but the engine will remain 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged, internal combustion.

Because the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar is driven by tremendous involvement from the automotive industry, the move to hybridization is keeping pace with the future path of transportation.

“I think that will have an influence,” Collins said. “It’s dependent on the infrastructure. Some states are ahead of others in the US. The more it becomes commercialized and available in showing people this actually works, the adaptation will be there, once it becomes a part of our day-to-day life and we see things changing over that we can relate to, like we see at Indy.”

On this day, Collins was in Tryon, North Carolina at sculptor Williams Behrends studio, where Newgarden was sitting in for his live study with the sculptor.

It’s a key part of the process of immortalizing Newgarden’s face in sterling silver that will be attached to the Borg-Trophy later this year.

“Will has such a beautiful home and studio in Tryon that he graciously opens up to us every year,” Collins said. “I had seen Josef a few days earlier at a Penske partnership summit and told him to wait until Friday when he sees the studio at Will’s home, it’s stunning in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

“When he came in, he was taking it all in and asked a lot of questions. Will had interesting stories about it and it was really intriguing and interesting.”

From Ray Harroun, the winner of the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911, to the greatest drivers in the history of auto racing such as Mario Andretti, from four-time winners AJ Foyt, Al Unser, Rick Mears, and Helio Castroneves, to the other legends such as Wilbur Shaw and Bill Vukovich, each face on the trophy has its own story.

Newgarden’s face is next.

“Each driver is unique personality wise and looks wise,” Collins told me. “Josef was very excited to see his face today. He has such a recognizable and strong facial features and structures. Very distinctive look with great hair like a lot of other drivers. Very distinctive jawline and cheekbones and facial features. It turned out great. It looks awesome as usual.”

Newgarden is the first driver from the United States to win the 500 since Alexander Rossi won the 100^th Indianapolis 500 in 2016.

“It’s been quite a few years since we’ve had a US native win the Indianapolis 500, so you have to recalibrate because we have been so used to doing thing on a global level with that,” Collins explained. “Josef is a known face and name in his hometown and within the circuit and outside of that, I’m hoping over the next few months as we do the Baby Borg presentation and the face unveil, we have an opportunity to execute a good event.

“Whether that is in his hometown of Nashville or Mooresville, North Carolina, we will get together and make sure we see how that will work and make it something people can join in and enjoy and have a connection to something meaningful for Josef.”

Although BorgWarner’s world headquarters is in Detroit, Behrends lives in North Carolina, the home state of Team Penske, based about 100 miles to the East in Mooresville, North Carolina.

“It’s always exciting when somebody from Team Penske wins because we know them so well,” Collins said. “We are rooting for everybody and not tied to one particular team, but we know that group really well. When we were in Victory Lane there and Josef went across the finish line, you could see a collectively sigh of relief from that team. It had been quite a few years since they had won.

“First win since Roger purchased the track and IndyCar and for them, the weight was off their shoulders. You hear the drivers who have tried to win Indy say that feeling once they have finally won, they can relax a little bit. That is what it seemed like for me. I was super happy for them. It’s always great.”

Behrends has been the sculptor of the Borg-Warner Trophy since 1990, when he created the face of winner Arie Luyendyk.

Newgarden’s face is the 34^th created by Behrends.

“Will is awesome,” Collins said. “I don’t know what adjectives I can use to describe him. His work is impeccable. He has only met Josef a couple of times, had short interactions with him the day after the race with photos, and that is what he uses to build. It’s really amazing and uncanny the likeness he is able to do without knowing the person intimately.

“We take today to do those small refinements to make it even more perfect. Look at the detail down to the shape of the ears and it is exact. It’s just amazing.”

It is also the most lasting accolade for the winning driver of the Indianapolis 500. It will be part of the trophy, long after the driver has gone, standing the test of time.

“These are things they can share their kids and their grandkids and future generations so we try to make that as special as we can for them, celebrate that moment and make this year about them,” Collins said. “They deserve it.”

Newgarden’s first Indianapolis 500 has been a tremendous experience including BorgWarner’s commitment to honoring the winners of the race.

“It’s very cool,” Newgarden said. “BorgWarner has done a tremendous job in immortalizing the event. There is no other trophy in the world like the BorgWarner Trophy. There is no other sporting trophy that rivals it. There is just nothing like it.

“It’s so unique and special to be a part of it. I’m excited to race at the Speedway and to have won it and to know that will be part of the history forever, it’s significant. Coming back to this day and what we are doing, it’s been very, very special.”

Commissioned in 1935, unveiled in 1936, the relationship between BorgWarner and the Indianapolis 500 endures as one of the most valuable, and longest lasting, in the history of the great race.

“At the Penske summit, they had a slide of partnerships that exceeded 20 years and we were on there and I thought, we have a multiplication factor of five-plus with that,” Collins said. “It’s really unheard of because there are many things that haven’t been around that long.”