Borg-Warner Presents Driver's Trophy to Arie Luyendyk
9 April 1998
Borg-Warner Automotive Driver's Trophy Presented to Indy 500 Winner Arie Luyendyk: New Owner's Trophy Unveiled
NEW YORK, April 9 -- The thrill of capturing auto racing's
most prestigious victory was personalized today for 1997 Indianapolis 500
winner Arie Luyendyk and team owner Fred Treadway. The two each received
replicas of the sport's most coveted prize, the Borg-Warner Indianapolis 500
Trophy.
Borg-Warner Automotive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John F.
Fiedler presented the replicas at the 1998 New York International Auto Show.
During the presentation, Luyendyk received the Borg-Warner Automotive
Championship Driver's Trophy, complete with a sterling silver sculpture of his
image. Fiedler then unveiled the new Borg-Warner Automotive Award, a
companion to the Driver's Trophy that will each year recognize the importance
of the team owner's role in the Indy Racing League. Fred Treadway of Treadway
Racing, Luyendyk's team owner, is the new award's first recipient.
Fiedler presented the awards, both 14-inch, sterling silver replicas of
the Borg-Warner Indianapolis 500 Trophy, during a ceremony at the show's
Oldsmobile exhibit. On hand nearby was the G-Force Aurora V-8 that was driven
to victory by Luyendyk last May with an average race speed of 145.827 MPH.
"The Borg-Warner Indianapolis 500 Trophy, a world-famous symbol of
achievement, competitive performance and technological leadership, has been
coveted by race drivers since 1936," said Fiedler. "Borg-Warner Automotive is
proud to now be associated with three awards that bear our name and stand for
the same hallmarks of excellence that we do."
The tradition of presenting Indy 500 winners with a personalized replica
trophy, referred to in the automotive racing world as the "Baby Borg,"
originated in 1989.
"With his Memorial Day victory last year, an impressive follow-up to his
first Indy victory in 1990, Arie Luyendyk joins an elite group of race drivers
who have won the Indy 500 more than once. I'm delighted to honor him today
with a new sibling for his first 'Baby Borg,'" said Fiedler.
In presenting Treadway with the inaugural owner's award, Fiedler said,
"Collaboration is essential to the success of our business, as it is to auto
racing. In establishing the Borg-Warner Automotive Award as a companion to
the Championship Driver's Trophy, we pay tribute to the value of teamwork and
its critical role in performance excellence."
Chicago-based Borg-Warner Automotive, Inc. is a product leader
in highly engineered components and systems primarily for automotive
drivetrain applications. The company operates manufacturing and technical
support facilities in 12 countries, serving the North America, European and
Asian automotive markets.
FACT SHEET
BORG-WARNER AUTOMOTIVE CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVER'S TROPHY
* The Borg-Warner Automotive Championship Driver's Trophy, a replica of
the Borg-Warner Automotive Indianapolis 500 Trophy, is awarded each
year to the winner of the Indianapolis 500. (The Indianapolis 500
Trophy does not go home with the winner after it is presented on race
day; it stays on permanent display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Hall of Fame Museum.)
* The sterling silver Championship Driver's Trophy, fondly referred to in
the automotive racing world as the "Baby Borg," is 14 inches high and
weighs 5 pounds. It rests on a 4-inch by 8-inch beveled black marble
base. The base includes space for a hand-crafted, 2-inch, 3-
dimensional sterling silver image of the winning driver's face, and
also includes an inscription of the winning team and year of victory.
* The faces are sculpted by award-winning American sculptor William
Behrends. In creating the faces, Behrends first sculpts a life-size
bust in clay. He then works from the clay bust to create a smaller
image that is used for the sterling silver mold. The faces of Indy 500
winners since 1936 are attached to the Borg-Warner Automotive
Indianapolis 500 Trophy.
* The first recipient of the Borg-Warner Automotive Championship Driver's
Trophy was Rick Mears, winner of the 1988 Indianapolis 500. It is
valued at $25,000.
BORG-WARNER AUTOMOTIVE TEAM OWNER'S AWARD
* The Borg-Warner Automotive Award goes to the owner of the racing team
that wins the Indianapolis 500. It is also a replica of the larger
trophy but its band of art-deco racing cars is accentuated in gold to
symbolizes the importance of the team. The award recognizes the
importance of the team owner's role in the Indy Racing League, and pays
tribute to the value of teamwork in auto racing and the automotive
business. It is a companion to the Borg-Warner Automotive Championship
Driver's Trophy.
* The Borg-Warner Automotive Award was established in 1998, the year
Borg-Warner Automotive marked its 70th year as a pioneering innovator
in the automotive industry and renewed its commitment to product
leadership as the strategic focus of its future.
* The inaugural Borg-Warner Automotive Award was presented in April 1998
to Fred Treadway of Treadway Racing. 1997 Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk
was on his team.
THE BORG-WARNER INDIANAPOLIS 500 TROPHY
* Borg-Warner Automotive and its predecessor companies have been
associated with the Indianapolis 500 since that racing tradition began
in 1911. The Wheeler-Schebler Trophy was awarded from 1911 through
1935. The trophy was named after Frank Wheeler, one of the Speedway's
four original founders, and George Schebler, one of two partners in a
carburetor company that merged into the group that formed Borg-Warner
in 1928. The founding organizations were Borg & Beck, Warner Gear,
Marvel-Schebler and Mechanics Universal Joint.
* The Borg-Warner Indianapolis 500 Trophy made its debut in 1936 when it
was presented to race winner Louis Meyer. Meyer said, "Winning the
Borg-Warner Trophy is like winning an Olympic medal."
* The Borg-Warner Indianapolis 500 Trophy is made of 80 pounds of
sterling silver, originally cost $10,000, and is currently valued at
$1.5 million. The trophy clearly reflects the "art deco" period of its
creation during the 1930s.
* The Borg-Warner Indianapolis 500 Trophy is displayed trackside during
the race. When the winner pulls into Victory Lane, the trophy is
placed on the rear of the car behind the driver. This tradition dates
back to 1911, when Ray Harroun won the race with an average speed of
74.602 miles per hour.
* The Borg-Warner Indianapolis 500 Trophy has appeared in several
Hollywood movies, including "To Please a Lady" with Barbara Stanwyck
and Clark Gable, and "Winning" with Paul Newman. In the latter, Paul
Newman talks on the phone about his racing victory while standing in a
phone booth with a scaled-down version of the trophy proudly tucked
under his arm.
* The overall trophy stands five feet, two inches tall. Guidelines for
its creation stipulated that it must represent the spirit of world-
class racing, be constructed of precious metal, and be of heroic
proportions. The completed work was characterized by its luxurious use
of geometric and stylized forms, including wings of victory "handles"
on each side of the trophy to symbolize speed, and a Greek-like figure
of a man waving the traditional checkered flag atop a silver dome.
* The original trophy base was designed to display images of the faces of
70 Indy 500 winners. A new base was constructed in 1986 to provide
space for 18 more faces, adding capacity for winners through 2003.
* Seven drivers have won the Borg-Warner Indianapolis 500 Trophy twice.
Tommy Milton, Bill Vukovich, Rodger Ward, Gordon Johncock, Emerson
Fittipaldi, Al Unser, Jr., and Arie Luyendyk, Louis Meyer, Wilbur Shaw,
Mauri Rose, Bobby Unser, and Johnny Rutherford are three-time winners.
Al Unser, Sr., Rick Mears, and A.J. Foyt have won the trophy four
times.
* The race for the Borg-Warner Indianapolis 500 Trophy draws the largest
crowd for any single day's sporting event in the world -- triple the
numbers for the Super Bowl or the Kentucky Derby.
The Borg-Warner Indianapolis 500 Trophy is a registered trademark of Borg-
Warner Automotive, Inc.
SOURCE Borg-Warner Automotive, Inc.
