Auburn Hills, Michigan, December 5, 2018 – History was made at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, with the debut of the newest face on the Borg-Warner Trophy™. Will Power, winner of the 102nd Indianapolis 500 in May, is the 105th face to be permanently fixed to the trophy. It’s Power’s first Borg-Warner Trophy appearance. He has 35 career Indy car series race wins.
“Our Borg-Warner Trophy is a living work of art and represents the pinnacle of performance for open-wheel racing,” said Frederic Lissalde, President and CEO, BorgWarner Inc. “We are honored to add Will Power to the drivers who’s images adorn the trophy. Will shares our company’s commitment to excellence and drive for success, no matter the obstacle. Congratulations again to Will for this achievement.”
Creating a sterling silver, three-dimensional likeness of Power’s face takes skill and talent. To design the image, sculptor William Behrends, who has been crafting faces to adorn the trophy since 1990, conducted a multi-phase process that took months to complete. Among the activities was a series of headshots taken of Power, along with an in-studio session where Power posed while Behrends worked on a full-scale clay model of his face to better capture Power’s personality. The life-size clay model was then scaled down to a smaller clay image, which was perfected in polysulfide rubber and plaster, among a series of other processes, to refine the face and capture even the smallest smile line or forehead wrinkle. Eventually, the image was cast in wax, cleaned up and sent to a jeweler to transform the image from wax to sterling silver. Once that was complete, Behrends polished, buffed and refined the image before affixing it to the Borg-Warner Trophy.
“I was really surprised by the amount of work and detail that goes into crafting each of the faces on the Borg-Warner Trophy – the artistic process is incredible,” said Power. “It’s humbling to have the honor of having my face permanently part of the trophy; it’s a cool piece of history.”
Power’s face is the 105th face to be featured on the on the 110-pound Sterling Silver trophy. BorgWarner commissioned the creation of the iconic racing award in 1935 to honor winners of the Indianapolis 500. The first driver to be bestowed the honor was Louis Meyer, who in 1936 was presented with the trophy featuring the previous 24 winner’s faces. Since its inception, the trophy has been woven into the annual Indianapolis 500 tradition, and now has 12 countries and 21 U.S. states represented on its base and cup.
The 5 feet, 4-3/4 inches tall trophy is permanently on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, located within the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Drivers receive a keepsake trophy, the BorgWarner Championship Driver’s TrophyTM (also known as the “Baby Borg”), a miniature replica of the famous trophy, with an exact copy of his sterling silver image mounted to it. BorgWarner will present Power with the Baby Borg at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit on Jan. 16, 2019.
In addition to the driver receiving a miniature replica of the Borg-Warner Trophy, the team owner also receives a mini replica of the trophy, the BorgWarner Championship Team Owner’s Trophy™. 2018 is a historic year for this trophy, as Roger Penske’s Team Penske adds to his already record-setting number of Indianapolis 500 team wins, with Penske earning his 17th BorgWarner Championship Team Owner’s trophy. Mr. Penske also will receive his trophy commemorating this historic feat at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit on Jan. 16, 2019.
2018 Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power’s sterling silver likeness was unveiled on the Borg-Warner Trophy™