Borg-Warner Trophy

Borg-Warner Trophy
The Borg-Warner Trophy on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum
Awarded for	Winner of the Indianapolis 500
Sponsored by	BorgWarner
Location	Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Country	United States
Reward(s)	Miniature trophy replica
First awarded	1936
Last awarded	2016
Currently held by	Alexander Rossi
Most awards	(4) A. J. Foyt, Al Unser, Rick Mears
Official website	BorgWarner.com

The Borg-Warner Trophy is the trophy presented to the winner of the Indianapolis 500. It is named for and was commissioned by automotive supplier BorgWarner. It is permanently housed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in Speedway, Indiana. 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."

Alexander Rossi won the 2016 Indianapolis 500, and is the current reigning champion. Each year, the winning driver is presented with a miniature replica ("Baby Borg") during a reception in January, about seven months after the race. Prior to the trophy's inception, the Strauss Trophy (first awarded in 1919) was once presented to the winner. The Wheeler-Schebler Trophy was awarded to the leader at the 400-mile mark, but was retired when car owner Harry Hartz claimed it three times.

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. Inscribed are the winners' name, year 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 Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 1945-1977. On the top of the trophy is an unclothed 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.