Two-time Indianapolis 500 winning driver Gordon Johncock accepts his ‘Baby Borg’ Trophy from … [+]
The longest-running sponsorship of any sporting event in the world is easily BorgWarner’s involvement with the Indianapolis 500.
Dating all the way back to the 1930s, the company was commissioned with creating the permanent trophy for the Indianapolis 500 in 1935.
The iconic Borg-Warner Trophy made its first appearance in Victory Lane in 1936 when Louis Meyer became the first three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, at that time known as the “International 500-Mile Sweepstakes” or simply, the “500-Mile Race.”
A second great tradition was created that day when Meyer asked for his favorite drink after a grueling, 500-long miles in the hot Indiana sun – a bottle of ice-cold Buttermilk.
The Borg-Warner Trophy at the “Yard of Bricks” at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Photo by Chris … [+]
Tastes have changed since Buttermilk was considered a thirst-quencher, but the Borg-Warner Trophy and a cold bottle of milk await the winner in Victory Lane at the Indianapolis 500 every May.
The photos of the winning driver with the Borg-Warner Wreath around his neck and the massive Borg-Warner Trophy in the background holding the bottle of milk is the image of immortality and history.
Long after a racing driver’s career has come to an end, that image and memory remains.
“It’s something we are very proud of, something that is very unique only to us,” Michelle Collins, Global Director, Marketing and Public Relations, BorgWarner, told me. “What other company can say they have something that exists like this in perpetuity. It has so much history and it has followed the history of our company, too.”
It was 50 years ago, that Gordon Johncock was the driver in a rainy, dreary Victory Lane after the 1973 Indianapolis 500 was mercifully cut short by three days of rain when it was flagged for the final time after 133 laps.
Johncock’s second Indianapolis 500 victory would come under much glorious circumstances in 1982, when he dueled Rick Mears over the final 10 laps in the most exciting finish to the race’s history and the closest Indianapolis 500 at that time with the margin of victory just 0.16-seconds.
Today, it is the fifth-closest finish in Indy 500 history in any race that did not finish under caution. The 1992 finish had Al Unser, Jr. 0.043-of-a-second ahead of Scott Goodyear. Ryan Hunter-Reay’s 2014 victory over Helio Castroneves is second at 0.0600-of-a-second followed by Sam Hornish, Jr’s 0.0635-second margin after passing Marco Andretti for the lead a few hundred yards from the checkered flag.
In 2015, Juan Pablo Montoya defeated Will Power by 0.1046-of-a-second followed by Johncock’s margin over Mears in 1932.
But that 1982 finish was the first time in Indianapolis 500 history that anyone had ever seen such a fierce fight to the checkered flag. It remains the standard to which all Indianapolis 500s since then have been measured.
Johncock celebrated in sunshine in Victory Lane, the crowning achievement to his legendary racing career that included He won 25 IndyCar races from 1965 to 1983 and finished second or third 51 times.
He started 24 Indianapolis 500s and led seven races for 339 laps. He also won the 1976 USAC National Championship in Indy cars.
Fifty years after winning the 1973 Indianapolis 500, the 87-year-old Johncock received his retro “Baby Borg” for his outstanding racing career.
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Gordon Johncock surrounded by his family.
His entire family including his wife, Sue, his sons and daughters and in-laws and grandchildren and great grandchildren as well as many of the crewmembers from his 1973 and 1982 Indy 500 victories attended a special ceremony for Johncock presented by BorgWarner at Binkley’s Kitchen and Tavern in the Broad Ripple section of Indianapolis on April 24.
It was preceded by a special tour of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum on Monday morning for Johncock’s family.
The 86-year-old Johncock even drove one of the IMS Museum Tour Busses around the 2.5-mile oval that Johncock mastered so well during his spectacular racing career.
“These events are always so great to do, to honor the past winning drivers and giving them a proper ‘Baby Borg’ and truly recognize the great and tremendous feat they accomplished by winning the Indianapolis 500,” Collins said.
Plaques were given until 1988 until Rick Mears came up with the idea for Baby Borgs to go to the winner. On milestone anniversaries, past winners have received a Baby Borg.
Indianapolis 500 winners Parnelli Jones, Bobby Unser, AJ Foyt, Mario Andretti, and Al Unser have all gotten Baby Borgs on the 50thanniversary of their first wins.
“We made this decision to switch over to the full-sized Baby Borg as a way to really reinvigorate what we had been doing,” Collins said. “It was really a way for the driver to have a more tangible replica of the trophy.
“The plaque isn’t really something you can pick up and handle and look at from all angles. You put it on the wall and that is it.
“This is a much more realistic rendition of the trophy and something the driver can pick up and move and look back on and reflect on the win.
“It looks more like our trophy, which I know they can’t keep, so this is a nice alternative second to that.”
On April 24, Johncock got his ‘Baby Borg’ – a son of Michigan from Michigan-based BorgWarner.
“You see the excitement when a driver wins from another country and the pride that the people from his home country and hometown take,” Collins said. “This is a really neat story because I’m sure there are people in the area, he lives in Michigan that don’t know about the past that Gordon Johncock has had.
“That’s pretty cool that he is recognized for that as a native of Michigan and to recognize him for that is really cool.”
Gordon Johncock with the Borg-Warner Trophy after winning the 1973 Indianapolis 500.
It also brings light in a positive way to the grim “Month of May” in 1973.
“I hope so,” Collins said. “We know racing is a risk that these drivers do. There were unfortunate events that day, but it doesn’t take away that he ultimately won.
“It was the right thing to do to recognize him for that.”
Late in life, Johncock was properly honored with his “Baby Borg.”
“This is really something very special,” Collins said before presenting the Baby Borg to Johncock. Every day, I’m dealing with a lot of other things with corporate America, buying and selling companies, a lot of different things. This is the most exciting, by far.
“To continue this tradition of drivers who have been able to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of their win is very special. This was really Steve Shunck’s brainchild, and he really admires Gordon Johncock. I’m happy to support it any way I can.”
Shunck is a public relations specialist for BorgWarner and previously worked in public relations for IndyCar, Champ Car, NASCAR, Michigan International Speedway, ABC Sports and in the Sports Information Department at the University of Michigan.
Fittingly, Shunck’s first Indianapolis 500 came as a third grader in 1973 – the race that Johncock claimed the first of this two Indy 500 victories.
With that, one of the greatest racers in Indianapolis 500 history came up to accept the Baby Borg, wearing his famous flannel shirt and blue jeans.
Gordon Johncock and his wife, Sue with his “Baby Borg”
“I done most of my talking with a steering wheel,” said the 86-year-old Johncock, who runs Johncock Forestry Products in South Branch, Michigan. “As most people know, I wasn’t very good at making appearances and stuff I didn’t really like to do. I was farming and doing different things up north. When I got done racing, I got on an airplane or a car and went home and went to work. That is what I was really caring to do.
“Racing has really been good to me. With the help of a lot of people, no one person does it themselves. I don’t care if it’s baseball or football or basketball, along the way you have had help from a lot of people. One person can’t do it by themselves. They have to have help. They have all done a lot to put this together and I want to thank them very much and everybody for participating in this event.
“We had breakfast the other day with my crew, and it was great to see all of the guys.”
Crew members including 1982 crew chief George Huening, crew members John Anderson, Larry Faust, Bones Breiton, and others were reunited to the driver who won one of the most dramatic Indianapolis 500s in history in his famous duel with Rick Mears.
Johncock grew up in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s racing super-modifieds and had most of his success on paved tracks though he did get some memorable wins on the dirt. In 1964 driving a USAC Sprint car he set a half-mile World Record at high banked Winchester Speedway in Indiana turning a blazing lap of 104.773 mph.
Gordon Johncock in the 1960s (Photo by ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images)
Johncock was a rookie in 1965 at IMS and finished fifth – Jim Clark won, Parnelli Jones was second, Mario Andretti finished third to earn Rookie of the Year honors, Al Miller was fourth and Johncock fifth in a roadster – one of only six front engine cars in the field that day.
At 86, Johncock continues to put in a hard day’s work.
He has owned Johncock Forestry Products since 2010. There are 21 employees. Johncock Forestry Products mainly saws logs into pallet material and uses the bark from logs to make landscaping mulch. He lives in South Branch, Michigan (population 841) with his wife Sue – they were married in 1990 and both have children from previous marriages.
“When I was five, I started to work on the family farm, I drove a John Deere tractor and my dad had me follow a string that was attached to sticks at the end of each row of corn,” Johncock recalled. “He rode behind me on his tractor, that’s how it all started – farming and driving – all at five years old in Hastings. Michigan. Before I was five, they had me helping with other chores.
“I’ve been on a farm pretty much all my life and enjoy it.”
The “Man from Michigan” is more at home in a flannel shirt and blue jeans, than in a coat and tie. That was the theme for Monday’s “Baby Borg” event as the dress code was “Johncock Casual” — flannel shirts required.
In many ways, the “Month of May” at the Indianapolis 500 actually kicked off in late April, with Johncock receiving his “Baby Borg.”
It also begins a very busy month for BorgWarner and its involvement and long-standing relationship with the Indianapolis 500 and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway heading into the “World’s Biggest Race” on Sunday, May 28, 2023.
“We’ve got a lot of exciting things coming up this year for the race,” Collins said. “There are a lot of things we haven’t done in the past that I’m excited to unveil in the coming weeks that I think will excite a lot of fans.
“This is a great time for us.
“IndyCar and Penske Entertainment have done a tremendous job in trying to amplify and excite fans and new fans this year, especially with the TV Series ‘100 Days to Indy’ on The CW. A lot of people are excited about that and it’s great to be a partner with them and take part in that.
“We have a lot of exciting things coming up that hopefully will really excite fans.”
The Borg-Warner Trophy has a very busy month of May, itself. It moves from its permanent display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum and is taken around the track, including its own pit area the “Yard of Bricks.”
Fans line up to take photos and “Selfies” with the Borg-Warner Trophy, which has become a star of the Indianapolis 500.
Schoolkids eager to see the Borg-Warner Trophy in its pit area during practice for the Indianapolis … [+]
“What I hope people take away from it, is putting a connection together with the name of the trophy and our company that they might be interested to look and see what we do and how we are affiliated with the race and this iconic trophy,” Collins said. “It’s a good way to take an exciting consumer-facing event and connect it back to a ‘B-to-B’ company.
“Hopefully, that’s interesting for people.”
BorgWarner will bring several hundred employees and guests to the Indianapolis 500 the weekend of the race including suites, club seating and grandstand seating.
The winning driver of the 107th Indianapolis 500 will be presented the Borg-Warner Trophy in Victory Lane. Within the year after his victory, he will have his face unveiled on the trophy and a few months after that, receive his “Baby Borg.”
Late in life, Johncock got a chance to remember the glory days of his racing career, with his “Baby Borg.”
“People that have been around him the last couple of days have said they have never seen him this excited about anything,” Collins said. “A lot of times it’s hard for people to accept that recognition.
“Now, he is at the point where he is soaking it in and really enjoying it like he should be.
“It’s a cool moment he can take pride in, his family can take pride in and reflect on this great thing that he has done.
“What an incredibly cool story.
“Nearly every single one of these legends have cried when I give that trophy to them. It shows just hope important that is them.”
A relationship that goes all the way back to the 1930s, continues into the future. BorgWarner can’t put a value on the importance of its relationship with the Indianapolis 500.
“The company has evolved so much from those early days and so has racing,” Collins said. “But we are all in this together, we all have the same end-goal to promote the race, promote the drivers and this great partnership we have with each other.
“The whole point for us is to leverage this event and the excitement that we all share.”
Gordon Johncock with the Borg-Warner Trophy in Victory Lane after winning the 1982 Indianapolis 500
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucemartin/2023/05/05/borgwarner-honors-and-preserves-the-indianapolis-500-as-it-honors-legends-of-the-brickyard/