INDIANAPOLIS — In a season of gift giving, let’s consider a 10-day period for Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden.
His birthday is Dec. 22 and Christmas is Dec. 25, but on Dec. 15 at the Stutz Museum, the winner of the 107th Indianapolis 500 received a gift that will stand the test of time. It was last Friday that Newgarden’s face was unveiled on the famed Borg-Warner Trophy to immortalize his victory in the May 28 Indy 500.
“This is by far, the coolest holiday season I’ve ever had,” said Newgarden, who turns 33 on Friday. “It is non-stop.”
The special ceremony was held in downtown Indianapolis at the facility that used to manufacture the famed Stutz Bearcat automobile in the early days of the automotive industry.
“The Stutz Building is an amazing setting,” Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles said. “Turner Woodard used to own this and saw this building as a dream when it was falling apart has moved it on to the next group of ownership and I want to thank Turner and the people at Stutz for keeping the tradition and the history of the Stutz Building and the Stutz automobile alive.
“It’s so cool to be here today.
“We don’t get to do things like this without great partners, but not just partners, great family members who love the tradition of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway like all of us do. Michelle Collins and the folks at BorgWarner, this is such a cool moment because this is such a cool trophy. Thank you to everyone on board for continuing to make this the most special trophy in the world.”
It was the moment when Newgarden entered Indianapolis 500 history as his sterling silver face is part of the trophy that includes the greatest names and drivers in auto racing history.
From Ray Harroun, the winner of the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911, to Louis Meyer, the first three-time winner of the race, to the great Wilbur Shaw, another three-time winner, Bill Vukovich, a back-to-back winner in 1953-54, to AJ Foyt, the first four-time winner of the race, to the incomparable Mario Andretti, four-time winners Al Unser, Rick Mears and Helio Castroneves — Newgarden’s face is now among theirs on the Borg-Warner Trophy.
Newgarden is the 75th individual winning driver of the Indianapolis 500 dating back to Ray Harroun in 1911. A total 795 drivers have started the 500 — alphabetically Walt Adler (one start 1950) to Paolo “Paul” Zuccarelli (one start 1913).
Newgarden is the 110th face on the Borg-Warner Trophy. All are sterling silver except Tony Hulman, the man who saved the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he purchased it from Eddie Rickenbacker in November 1945.
“To me, it’s the highest honor you can have in motorsports,” Newgarden said. “Looking at the history and pedigree of this event, it truly has transcended motorsports and the automotive industry what this race has been about from the very beginning. It has been surreal for me to be able to win personally. But it’s much more than me.
“This was a team effort by so many people just to have this career. To be a part of the Indianapolis 500 and be able to qualify for this event is a huge deal. To be able to win it, is something I can’t describe. I couldn’t describe it until I was able to win it with our team.
“I lose words because I want to be so respectful to what this event is and what it means to so many people in this community and what everybody has done to be a custodian for the event to make sure this great race is held to the highest standard.
“I think it deserves that because of what it is and the history of it. I lose words at times to speak eloquently enough about what it is, but it means a lot to be to be a part of it and it has been a huge honor to be a champion of the event now.”
Newgarden’s sterling silver image was the 34th created by sculptor William Behrends of Tryon, NC dating back to Arie Luyendyk in 1990.
“The Indianapolis 500 is the greatest race in the world and the Borg-Warner Trophy is the greatest trophy in all of sports,” Behrends said. “To work yearly on this trophy is an incredible honor. It’s not routine — I take special care and pride in each image — whether it was my first in 1990, Arie Luyendyk or this year’s winner Josef Newgarden who drove an incredible and calculated race.
“For every winning driver it’s the pinnacle of their career and they deserve my best, that’s what I’ve done for the past 34 years. I’m honored to work with BorgWarner and be part of an Indy 500 tradition that makes all the winners so happy.”
Newgarden’s first Indy 500 win is Team Penske record-extending 19th Indianapolis 500 victory.
This was the 11th year of the formal unveiling of the winning driver’s sterling silver image on the Borg-Warner Trophy dating back to Tony Kanaan in 2013. It’s something BorgWarner always looks forward to, whether the IMS Museum, in France with Simon Pagenaud or the Indiana Statehouse with Helio Castroneves in 2022, it’s something that’s always memorable for everyone involved.
“It’s something that is very, very special to BorgWarner, the trophy and we are really honored to keep the tradition alive and be a small part of this honor for this amazing experience,” said Michelle Collins, Global Director, Marketing and Communications, BorgWarner Corporation. “I really can’t say enough about it.
“We really do appreciate this with our friends at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar.”
The tradition of the Borg-Warner Trophy began with Louis Meyer when he became the first three-time Indianapolis 500 winner in 1936.
Newgarden is from Hendersonville, Tenn., just outside of Nashville, but he has deep roots to the state of Indiana. His race career began at New Castle Motorsports Park in East Central Indiana, just off Interstate 70.
“Indiana is a very special place to me. I grew up racing with Doug’s (Boles) stepson, Conor Daly,” Newgarden recalled. “New Castle, Indiana was really my racing home where I started racing. I wanted to be a race car driver one day and didn’t know what that would look like. Indiana was really the best place to go to for me when I was 13 years old and wanted to get involved with my dad. This was the place to go.
“Naturally, when you see the Indianapolis 500 and learn about the history and the tradition, I remember spending so much time here, doing this for a living. I was at Doug Bole’s house with Conor dreaming about being a race car driver when I was a young kid. To fully get here and have the chances that I’ve had, I can never repay that to so many different individuals.
“But I definitely carry that ‘Hoosier Pride’ in a lot of ways. I love when I meet people from Indiana or people who have family from Indiana, you meet them from all over the world. As soon as you talk to them and hear they are from Indiana, they know exactly what the Indianapolis 500 means and the significance of it. They speak so pridefully about it.
“Everybody that has been here knows exactly what that means and why the Indy 500 is so special. I feel like I’m a part of that community and I want to spread that message. It’s important for all of us to make sure we honor this event and elevate it every single year because it deserves that with the history that it has.
“The ‘Hoosier Heart’ is definitely there for me.”
It took 12 attempts before Newgarden won the Indianapolis 500.
Although he celebrated in a most unusual way by going under the fence and celebrating with part of the massive 330,000 fans at this year’s Indianapolis 500, Newgarden admitted he quickly set his focus on the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series Championship race.
Because of that, Newgarden admitted he didn’t get to soak in the Indy 500 victory as much as he should have.
“Once the championship was over, it was easy to reflect on the Indy 500,” Newgarden said. “It was such a big year in so many ways because of that singular event and achieving that objective. It’s funny because you always get the question, ‘Would you rather win the Indianapolis 500? Or would you rather win the IndyCar Championship?’
“I always struggled to answer that. My answer was you want to win both, and I still feel that way.
“But now, having won the Indy 500, I think my perspective has changed.
“I would, hands down, love to win the Indianapolis 500 over a championship because it is so difficult to get it right on that day. You only have one chance a year and there is so much buildup and so much pressure and commitment that everybody has put in, now that I have actually achieved it, I want to win it more than I have ever wanted to win it.
“I think that is fascinating that when you have never won it, and you win it, you are finally going to be happy and don’t have to win it again. But when you win the race, you will never want to win it more in your life than after you have won it.
“It’s crazy the effect that it has on you. I can’t wait to get back here in May. I want to do it again and I want to be better than I was last year. Indianapolis has that kind of effect on you.”
On Dec. 22, Newgarden gets to celebrate his 33rd birthday. On Dec. 25, Newgarden and his family get to unwrap gifts on Christmas Day. But on Dec. 15, Newgarden was asked his thoughts on receiving a gift that will stand the test of time.
“It looks amazing,” Newgarden said. “The work that goes into this is intimate, it’s very precise. Just like this race, I don’t know another trophy like this in sport anywhere. It’s another special part of what the Indianapolis 500 and the Borg-Warner Trophy represents.
“To everybody at BorgWarner, we are all custodians of this event with the duty to carry it forward and make it bigger and better every year. To know that it is there, and it is going to stay forever, it’s the highest honor.
“The highest honor.”