Auburn Hills, Michigan, May, 21, 2013 – The 47th annual BorgWarner Louis Schwitzer Award has been presented to engineers Dale Harrigle and Brett Schilling from Bridgestone Americas Motorsports for the Firestone Firehawk™ Indy 500 Race Tire. Designed to withstand the harsh environment of the IZOD IndyCar® Series, the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 Race Tire features improved compounds and construction designed to increase performance, improve endurance and continue a winning tradition. Firestone tires have been setting the pace at the Indianapolis 500 since Ray Harroun’s inaugural victory in 1911, when he drove the Marmon Was powered by Louis Schwitzer’s Yellow Jacket engine. As the Indianapolis 500’s exclusive tire supplier since 1995, the Firestone race tire team built on its experience, expertise and engineering excellence to develop race tires that provide great grip, durability and racing excitement.
The Firehawk Indy 500 Race Tire features a high-grip tread compound created with Firestone’s propriety additives and raw rubber. The belts are composed of a proprietary aramid synthetic fiber, with steel used only in the beads. Firestone’s engineers employed proven modeling methods to calculate forces and moments, and perform steady-state modeling. Within only six months, the race tire team developed and tested the tires on the race track.
Presented by engineers to engineers, the BorgWarner Louis Schwitzer Award recognizes individuals for innovation and engineering excellence in race car design associated with the annual Indianapolis 500. The winners are honored at an awards banquet, and their names are immortalized on the Schwitzer trophy on permanent display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum. The $10,000 award is sponsored by BorgWarner and presented to the winning engineer(s) by the Indiana Section of SAE International.
Initiated in 1967, the award memorializes automotive pioneer, engineer and professional race car driver Louis Schwitzer. In 1909, Schwitzer won the first auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). He also designed the “Marmon Yellow Jacket” engine that powered the Marmon Wasp to victory at the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911. After working in the automotive industry for many years, Louis founded the Schwitzer Corporation, which produced innovative cooling fans, water pumps and turbochargers. In 1999, the Schwitzer Corporation joined BorgWarner. Throughout his career, Schwitzer enjoyed numerous technological accomplishments, supported higher education, led the IMS technical committee and maintained a strong association with SAE.
BorgWarner continues his legacy of technology leadership as the official turbocharger supplier of the IZOD IndyCar Series. The engine of every car in the 2013 Indianapolis 500 is boosted by BorgWarner’s line of EFR (for “Engineered For Racing”) turbochargers, which feature Gamma TiAl (titanium aluminide) turbine wheels, ceramic ball bearings and stainless steel turbine housings.