Alex Palou’s Borg-Warner Trophy Face So Lifelike ‘It’s Almost Scary’

Alex Palou, 2025 Indianapolis 500 race winner poses with his “Clay Head” during the formal sitting for creating the silver image on the Borg-Warner Trophy at William Behrends Studio on Sept. 18, 2025, in Tryon, N.C.

Scott R LePage for BorgWarner

When the wraps came off Alex Palou’s life-sized, clay sculpted head on September 18, his reaction was one of amazement that it looked so lifelike.

“It’s a bit scary to see,” Palou, the winner of the 109^th Indianapolis 500 remarked to sculptor William Behrends at his studio in Tryon, North Carolina.

Palou’s reaction wasn’t unusual, according to Behrends, who has been creating the winner’s image for each Indianapolis 500 winner on the Borg-Warner Trophy since Arie Luyendyk in 1990.

Palou is the 36^th Indianapolis 500 winner that Behrends will create and the session on September 18 is known as the live study. That’s when the winner of the Indy 500 sits in while Behrends performs is artistry on the clay head that resembles the real Palou.

“I think most people have that reaction when they are first seeing it for the first time,” Behrends told Palou. “You don’t see this image, because you see yourself in the mirror, but you are reversed in the mirror, so you don’t see yourself that way.”

Palou’s responded by saying, “I see myself in photos, but not in sculpture.”

When the Chip Ganassi Racing driver saw his double, he was impressed to the point where he didn’t know how to translate his emotions the seeing himself looking back at him.

“Oh, wow; that looks like me,” Palou said to Behrends. “That’s awesome. I love it.

“I would add a little more hair to make me look younger, but that looks amazing. It looks very close to me.

“Wow. It’s going to look very good on the trophy.”

I had a chance to spend the day with Palou and Behrends at his studio in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Behrends home is one of scenic beauty that seems fitting for an artist.

Palou snapped some “Selfies” of himself with “Clay Alex” and sent them to his wife, Esther and daughter Lucia.

“Esther said, ‘You look like three or four years older, but you look really, really close to it,’” Palou told me. “I think she was really happy. She was a bit worried as everybody because you want to make sure that it’s your face, that whenever you look back in like 10 years, you can remember that exact day. and I think Will has done a tremendous job.”

By the time Behrends completes his lengthy process, Palou’s face will be the size of an egg cast in sterling silver. The final product will be attached to the permanent Borg-Warner Trophy that memorializes every winner of the Indianapolis 500 from 1911 to Palou’s Indy win in 2025.

Alex Palou’s Borg-Warner Trophy Face Is A Lengthy Process

There are several more steps in the lengthy process between Palou’s clay head and the much smaller sterling silver bas-relief sculpture that will be unveiled later this year on the Borg-Warner Trophy.

“That’s what I’m most excited for now in the offseason to see the face attached to that trophy and knowing that it’s forever going to be there,” Palou told me. “That’s crazy to me.

“I think winning that is puts your name, and it just keeps it there forever. But to have it on the trophy, it’s going to be, amazing to see.”

Behrends artistic contributions to the trophy are legendary. In a few years, he will have created nearly one-third of every winner’s face on the Borg-Warner Trophy.

“I’ve been doing sculptures large in bronze for many years for 25 years before I started doing this,” Behrends explained to Palou. “I knew the technique, and I just reduced it down to this size into a different material.

“I learned how to do techniques in here that work for me that make it a better product. But really what I’m looking for on these is, I’m freezing that moment in time on your face. That’s the point in your career when you won the Indianapolis 500.

“People that win the Indianapolis 500 and get their face and name on the Borg-Warner Trophy, it’s a career accomplishment.

“And also, for the fans, this is in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum throughout the year. They want to come in and see your face, and they want to look at your face and really see your face.

“I try to make a very good likeness and project that feeling that you had when you won it.”

Alex Palou’s Moment In Time That Will Last For Eternity

It’s that moment in time after Palou won the 109^th Indianapolis 500 on May 25, 2025, that will last a lifetime. It will be the same face that fans will see well into the future on the permanent Borg-Warner Trophy.

“That’s what I’m most excited about,” Palou told me while sitting poolside on a sun-splashed day with the picturesque mountains as a backdrop. “I’m very excited that Will has been able to put that moment into my face.

“I think everybody has different faces and depending on how happy you are you have like different expressions. I think he has done a tremendous job on expressing how happy I was that day, and I cannot wait in let’s say even 20 years to go to the IMS Museum look down and see my face there it’d be a very special moment it’ll bring back these memories from this year that day and hopefully more additions if I’m able to win more.”

Alex Palou And William Behrends Artists Of Different Crafts

After Palou clinched his fourth NTT IndyCar Series Championship with two races remaining in the 2025 season, former driver and Palou’s mentor, Dario Franchitti, said Palou was an “artist behind the wheel of a race car.”

The racing artist had a chance to meet a true artist as he admired Behrends’ work.

“I think every job has an art that you can refine to try and be a little bit better,” Palou told me. “I think the art that Will has, it’s a hundred or a thousand times different than what I do. The amount of hours he puts in, the details, but at the end of the day, if you look back, it’s the same, right?

“He is focusing on really small details that nobody would notice, but that’s what makes the difference when he goes and does the work that he does.

“And it’s the same for us as drivers. I think we; when you get into professional racing, and everybody knows how to drive fast, but it’s all about those details that makes you separate from winning the race or not winning it.

“I can see that there’s some similarities in our work.”

Once Palou got through his initial feelings of amazement that bordered on scared because of its realism, he further explained his emotions.

On this day, Alex Palou was once again on top of IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500 as this year’s winner of both the championship and the world’s biggest race.

“If he had won the championship this year and not the Indy 500, it’s still been an accomplishment but for him to take it all is just super exciting,” Behrends told me. “It doesn’t happen very often.”

Alex Palou Enjoys Another Moment Of The ‘Era Of Alex’

This was another important day in what has become the “Era of Alex.” He won his fourth NTT IndyCar Series Championship in 2025, including the past three in a row. He also won an astounding eight races of the 17-race IndyCar Series season, including the 109th Indianapolis 500.

“Today is a very special day,” Palou said. “It’s one of those days that you always remember, and it’s one of those days that makes you realize that you won that race and what a special year has been just because you’re getting to do those traditions that you know that that this race allows you.

“Honestly, he did a tremendous job, he’s a great artist; he explained me how the process of doing that mold and my face is, and you can see the amount of hours and days that he has spent to do that.

“It’s incredible to be here today.”

Sitting a few feet behind Palou’s clay head in Behrends studio was the Borg-Warner Trophy. During a break in the live study session, Palou walked over to the trophy and analyzed each and every face of every winner of the Indianapolis 500 beginning with Ray Harround, the first winner in 1911.

Palou is about to join the likes of four-time winners AJ Foyt, Al Unser, Rick Mears and Helio Castroneves as well as Indy 500 legends Bill Vukovich, Bobby Unser, Johnny Rutherford, Mauri Rose, Arie Luyendyk, Al Unser, Jr. Wilbur Shaw, Gordon Johncock to name just a very few of the all-time greatest racers in Indy history.

“I still cannot believe that my face will be there forever,” Palou said. “I think the day that I see it there, I’m probably going to be like, ‘Wow, we really did it.’

“But it’s crazy, it’s insane. I never thought I would have that opportunity. I never thought that I would be able to achieve that, and it feels so special. Like all the tradition that it’s behind a trophy, the history, the drivers as well, the amount of legends that are there and that I will be forever close to them.”

Alex Palou’s Time To Bond With the Sculptor

On this day just a few days before the seasons changed from Summer to Autumn, the sculptor got a chance to form a bond with his sculpting subject.

Behrends looks for the finest details in a face that he can use the tools of his artistry to create his work of art.

“When I first met him the morning after the race, when we were taking the photographs that I worked from for this study, I noticed that he has a very expressive face,” Behrends told me. “Just a wonderful, engaging smile and I really tried to bring out that smile in my work because he has such a warm smile, very expressive face.

“Alex has a very distinctive face,” Behrends continued. “He makes fun of his own nose he says it’s big, but I tell him it’s a very distinctive nose. He tells me it’s a family feature and but here, very distinctive, good, strong facial structure, cheekbones, just very expressive eyes and just a handsome, expressive face. It’s been enjoyable.

“It’s a different challenge, but it’s a new challenge which I really enjoy. Just learning a new face and a great face. He’s got a good face. He had such a dominant season that this is really a deserving win and he’s just a tremendous race car driver. He’s the first driver from Spain to win the Indy 500, which is which is cool.

“He is a great person. I’ve really enjoyed it.”

Alex Palou Provides A Big Day for BorgWarner

This was also a big day for BorgWarner, a company that has sponsored the Borg-Warner Trophy at the Indianapolis 500 since 1935. The 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.

BorgWarner’s involvement with the Indianapolis 500 is the longest, continuous sports sponsorship in the world.

Joseph Fadool is the President and CEO of BorgWarner and along with his wife, spent the day with Palou at Behrends estate.

“It’s extremely important just spending some time with Alex,” Fadool told me. “You can tell right away; he’s a very humble person. He comes from a place of wanting the best for his sport and for his team, but he’s not doing it in a way that’s disrespectful to anybody. He’s just a wonderful human being. And I think it fits, terrifically, with BorgWarner.

“At BorgWarner, we stand for excellence, teamwork, collaboration, and being humble. It’s one of the things we talk about inside the company, no matter how good you are or what you achieve. At the end of the day, you’ve got to stay grounded and focus on your next thing.”

Michelle Collins, Vice President, Global Marketing And Communications, BorgWarner, along with famed publicist Steve Shunck, have helped turn this entire process into a tremendous marketing and promotional campaign for the company.

“Of course, we love to see repeat winners, but when we have a new driver, it gives us an opportunity to learn about them, get to meet them, know them closer, and talk through the next year ahead,” Collins told me. “This is just the start of a lot of different events around the Baby Borg and also, the big Borg-Warner Trophy. We’ve got the face unveil to look forward and also, the Baby Borg ceremony, which is still TBD based on schedules.

“But it’s always great to meet a new driver and experience with them what we have in store over the next year. So, all things Indy 500, all things Borg Warner and doing that together, it’s special.”

Alex Palou is known as much for his winning smile as his flawless ability as an Indy 500 winner. Through the efforts of William Behrends and BorgWarner, Palou’s winning smile will become ageless on the Borg-Warner Trophy.