With His “Baby Borg” Indianapolis 500 Winner Marcus Ericsson Joins The BorgWarner Family

Marcus Ericsson is the latest addition to the BorgWarnerBWA
family after the winner of the 106^th Indianapolis 500 winner received his “Baby Borg” trophy last week at The Thermal Club.

It was the latest gift the driver from Kumla, Sweden has received from the automotive and technology company after his crowning achievement at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 29, 2022.

The relationship between BorgWarner and the Indianapolis 500 dates all the way back to 1935 when the famed Borg-Warner Trophy was created to honor the winning drivers of the biggest race in the world. The trophy was unveiled for the first time in 1936 and was part of that year’s Victory Lane ceremony when Louis Meyer became the first three-time winning in Indy 500 history.

Meyer celebrated the victory with a cold bottle of buttermilk as two traditions began in the same race.

Ericsson’s face was unveiled on the permanent Borg-Warner Trophy at a special ceremony at Union 50 in Indianapolis on October 27, 2022.

The “Baby Borg” event at The Thermal Club on February 2 was when winning team owner Chip Ganassi and Ericsson were able to get miniature versions of the Borg-Warner Trophy that they get to keep.

“I think it’s so great for the sport and for the 500 to have a company like BorgWarner and the investments they have made over the years to the sport and to the Indianapolis 500,” Ericsson told me at the ceremony. “Even the Baby Borg, the ceremony around it, there are so many things that they do.

“They are like a family to be and I’m very, very excited about that.”

BorgWarner’s Commitment to the Indianapolis 500

BorgWarner embraces its commitment to the Indianapolis 500 while “Charging Forward” into the future of automotive technology with electrification.

Its involvement with the Indianapolis 500 is entering its 88^thconsecutive year. It’s the longest-running continuous sports sponsorship in history.

“It’s a commitment as BorgWarner values the relationship with the Indianapolis 500,” BorgWarner Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Paul Ferrell told me after the ceremony. “The tradition is fantastic. It’s a great affiliation and something we continue to invest in, foster and grow and we value that relationship and history. The tradition is a very important part of it.”

BorgWarner and the Borg-Warner Trophy has become a vital part of the tradition of the Indianapolis 500. The trophy is on permanent display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, but it really comes alive during the Month of May.

On Pole Day and Race Day, the Borg-Warner Trophy has its own pit area at the start/finish line serving as a constant reminder of the prize the 33 drivers in the field are fighting for. On Race Day, it begins a procession at the IMS Museum and loaded onto a pedestal in the back seat of the pace car.

Escorted by the famed Gordon Pipers, it begins its long journey through the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield and onto the track. As it makes its slow journey out of Turn 4 down the frontstraight a few hours before the start of the race, the pace car stops at the start/finish line.

It is removed from the pedestal and BorgWarner CEO Frederic Lissalde presents the trophy to Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles.

The trophy is on the stage for driver introductions and then moved to the platform stage of Victory Lane for many of the over 300,000 spectators to see before the start of the race as Indianapolis Motor Speedway Roger Penske gives the command, “Drivers, Start Your Engines.”

Afterwards, when the race winner pulls into Victory Lane and the elevator raises the winning car to the stage, the Borg-Wreath is placed around the winning driver’s neck and the Trophy takes a prominent place on the rear engine cover of the winning car.

It creates a photo that stands the test of time for that year’s winner.

There is no price tag for that kind of exposure for BorgWarner.

“That represents that long, long history,” Ferrell said. “The trophy has a presence in and of itself. It’s very imposing. It’s large. It’s very iconic. It’s special for everyone associated with BorgWarner to be part of that and see that tradition and see the trophy.

“It’s very, very special.”

Drivers Want to Be Part of the Family

Michelle Collins in the Director, Global Marketing and Communications for BorgWarner. She has become a popular figure among the drivers at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway because they realize what she represents, a chance to become a part of the BorgWarner family if they win the Indianapolis 500.

“They hosted a VIP party at The Thermal Club the night before this event and the drivers came up and said, ‘Hey Michelle, I hope I see a lot of you this year,’” Collins told me. “They associate me now with the Baby Borgs and the Borg-Warner Trophy. Of course, with all of these amplified activities we do over the years, taking the Borg-Warner Trophy overseas a few times and doing some special activities with the drivers is something I love to do and it’s our special gift to them.

“It’s amazing to think of the relationship over the years. There is nothing like it. There is really nothing else like it in sports. It’s an honor to have that long-standing history with it. It’s cool to be involved with it. It’s hard to explain what that means, day-to-day, but it becomes part of who you are and what you are doing.”

The unveiling of the winner’s face on the Borg-Warner Trophy used to be held late in the year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. That changed in 2019 when Simon Pagenaud’s likeness was unveiled on the trophy in Paris, France to celebrate the big moment in his home country.

For many years, the Baby Borgs were presented to the winning team owner and driver at the Automotive News World Congress dinner at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit every January.

Collins and Steve Shunck, a longtime public relations specialist with a flair for promotion, decided to give the “Baby Borg” a new coming out party.

“Steve Shunck has such a deep knowledge of Indy 500 and a love of it as well,” Collins said. “He has every fact known to man about the Indy 500 memorized in his mind. We will get together often and brainstorm often about what is coming up over the next year, what we should do, where we might go and have an angle and opportunity to do something because he has such a pulse on everything.

“It’s a great team effort. He’s not only somebody I work with, but I consider him a friend, too.”

In September 2019, Pagenaud received his Baby Borg at Team Penske’s headquarters in Mooresville, North Carolina. During the COVID year of 2020, Takuma Sato of Japan got his Baby Borg before the 2021 season-opening race at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg during a special ceremony at the Rahal Letterman Lanigan hospitality unit on April 23, 2021.

Helio Castroneves was honored for his record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500 victory when his face was unveiled on the Borg-Warner Trophy at the Indiana State House in Indianapolis on March 3, 2022. Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb helped unveil Castroneves’ image on the trophy.

Castroneves received his Baby Borg at Binkley’s Kitchen and Bar in the Broad Ripple neighborhood of Indianapolis on May 13, 2022.

In 2023, the 2022 Indianapolis 500 got his Baby Borg in this lavish private community in California’s Coachella Valley.

“When we found out IndyCar Spring Training was happening here, we thought this could be a really good opportunity to do something with the Baby Borgs,” Collins explained. “We were assured the driver and team owner would be here, which is very difficult to schedule once the season starts. We discussed it with the track, and it was a win-win. It gives us some additional coverage outside of everything that is happening here.

“It’s an exciting way to close out the previous season while looking forward to the next.

“We try to find something that is interesting to people that will be different every single year. We want to keep people guessing and keep people excited.”

Fresh Look For the Ceremony

Although BorgWarner is the oldest sponsor connected with the Indianapolis 500, Collins believed it was important to give the ceremony a fresh look.

“For me, seeing it with fresh eyes, I thought it was very important to make something that was very special for the driver,” she said. “That is what I have been focused on for the years I have been responsible for this now.

“That started in 2019 when we took the trophy to France. We did an unveil there, which everybody was shocked about because we had done the same thing for multiple years prior to that and we did it in August, the quickest turnaround we had ever had with Will Behrends and the face time.

“For me, it’s very important to make it more personal. I love the Detroit Auto Show and everything it has to offer, but I wasn’t quite sure it was the right venue to be doing the Baby Borgs at. I wanted it to be something the driver had a decision and choice in it, that they could invite people that meant something to them and could invite their team. At the Auto Show, we never had the opportunity to have those invitees to the event. I thought that was really important because I wanted it to be something they enjoyed and was not really a chore to them.

“It was more of a warm-up act, and I didn’t like that. It is strong enough to be its own event.”

The Baby Borgs are the trophies the winning driver and team owner get to display in their homes and office. The permanent Borg-Warner Trophy, however, has taken on a life of its own.

It is nearly a living, breathing object.

“We always say the stories it could tell if it could talk,” Collins said of the Borg-Warner Trophy. “It has been a lot of places over the 80-plus years we have had it, the places it has been and the things it has seen. We have a little bit of fun with that. We have a social media page for the trophy.

“We are doing a little bit more with that to the point where a lot of drivers are interacting with that page which has been fun and cool to see. That is exactly what we wanted.”

Ganassi’s Impressive Indianapolis 500 Success

Ericsson’s Indianapolis 500 victory was the sixth Indy 500 win for team owner Chip Ganassi. His first came in 1989 when Emerson Fittipaldi drove to victory for a team co-owned by U.E. “Pat” Patrick.

Ganassi formed his own team in 1990 and returned to Victory Lane at the Indianapolis 500 when Juan Pablo Montoya was the winner in 2000.

Scott Dixon gave Ganassi his third Indy 500 win in 2008. Dario Franchitti drove Ganassi’s cars to victory in 2010 and 2012.

Ericsson’s win came 10 years later.

“The energy BorgWarner provides for all of us in the paddock, all of us that understand how important to having your face emblazed on that trophy is, that is unmatched,” Chip Ganassi Racing Managing Director Mike Hull told me. “When you look at those sculptured faces on that trophy, all of them are special and have had great stature in motor racing and deserve to be there.

“There aren’t too many lucky faces on that trophy; they are all champions.

“BorgWarner has that in common as a championship organization.

“The Indianapolis 500 is really such a special, special event.”

Collins admits before the 106^th Indianapolis 500 in 2022 she didn’t know Ericsson as well as she knew the other drivers in the field.

Since his victory, however, the driver from Sweden is the latest member of the BorgWarner Family.

“We’ve gotten to know him well over the last year,” Collins said. “He was a bit of an unknown to me. I’m reading up on the people in the lineup, getting their bio, trying to think ahead. What could I do if this person wins? Where are they from? What opportunities can we do to leverage some of these activities. I do a decent amount of homework before the season starts.

“He was a little bit of an unknown, but not this year after all the activities. We have done a lot of things together. He is a great guy and so appreciative of it. That makes my job easy. I’m happy to do that.”

And Ericsson is happy that he is the latest member of the BorgWarner Family, continuing the impressive success for the company as a winning driver of the Indianapolis 500.

“It’s such a special thing,” Ericsson said. “The BorgWarner people and IndyCar and everyone at IMS, I get to experience so many cool things since winning the Indy 500. It’s a win that keeps on giving. It never ends. It still does.

“I can’t wait to get back to Indianapolis, the month of May, as the champion.

“I still have to pinch myself. It’s a dream, for sure.”