Borg-Warner Trophy
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The Borg-Warner Trophy, named for United States automotive supplier BorgWarner, is symbolic of victory in the Indianapolis 500 automobile race.
The trophy, which has been presented in the winner's circle after every race since 1936, is a very large, multi-tiered item which bears the bas-relief sculpture of the likeness of each driver to have won the race since its inception in 1911. It also has the driver's name, date of victory, and average speed. This information is alternated with the faces in a checkerboard pattern. Included on the base is the gold likeness of Tony Hulman, owner of the Indianapols Motor Speedway from 1945-1977. On the top of the trophy is a man waving a checkered flag. Because this man is depicted naked, after the tradition of Ancient Greek athletes, the trophy is most often photographed so that the man's arm is swooping down in front of him.
In 1935, the Borg-Warner Automotive Company commissioned designer Robert J. Hill and Gorham, Inc., of Providence, Rhode Island to create the trophy at a cost of $10,000 (the trophy was refurbished in 1991 and again in 2004. Today is valued in excess of $1.3 million). Unveiled at a 1936 dinner hosted by then-Speedway owner Eddie Rickenbacker, the trophy was officially declared the annual prize for Indianapolis 500 victors. Louis Meyer, that year's champion and its first recipient, soon thereafter remarked, "Winning the Borg-Warner Trophy is like winning an Olympic medal."
Made of sterling silver, the trophy is just under 5 feet, 4 inches (162.5 cm) tall and weighs nearly 153 pounds (45 kg). The base from the original has been expanded in order to hold more winners. This was done most recently in 2004 when the space was added to accommodate all winners through the 2034 race. The actual trophy is not given to the winner; it remains at the Hall of Fame Museum on the grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Since 1988, the winner receives an 18 inch tall replica of the trophy during the preparations for the following year's race. Prior to 1988, winners received an 24-inch upright model of the trophy mounted on a walnut plaque.
The trophy has had quite a history; track historian Donald Davidson has noted a particular story where a Butler University student was given the trophy to watch in the 1930s before race day. The young man hid the trophy under his bed one night and proceeded to have a night out. Upon his return to his fraternity house, the man found the trophy missing. He looked and looked and became very worried about the trophy's whereabouts. Upon looking in the frat house's basement, he found the trophy surrounded by men who were drinking beer out of it. All of 115 beers were inside of the trophy. Emptying the beer, he wondered how he would get the smell off of the trophy and decided to take a shower - taking the trophy in with him.
The trophy has appeared in several films, including Winning starring Paul Newman. For over forty years, 1950 Indianapolis 500 winner Johnnie Parsons's name was misspelled on the trophy, an error that has not been corrected and still retains the mistaken spelling of, "Johnny Parsons."
