One of the most famous and iconic trophies in all of sports – the famed Borg-Warner Trophy that honors the winners of the Indianapolis 500 – will go into residency in 2024.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is undergoing an extensive renovation that is targeted for completion before the 2025 Indianapolis 500. Since the IMS Museum opened in 1974, it provided a permanent home for the Borg-Warner Trophy.

But instead of sitting among the legendary former Indy 500 winning race cars and other priceless artifacts in the museum, the facility is being gutted and ultimately modernized by construction crews.

Without a proper area to display the famed Borg-Warner Trophy, it will enter a “residency” program sometime after the 108^th Indianapolis 500 in May 2024. The residency program will take it on the road to spend time at other iconic and significant museums, such as The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan.

“The IMS Museum is under renovation right now and we are putting in some amazing things with the new exhibit that will be unveiled in April 2025,” Michelle Collins, Global Director, Marketing and Communications for BorgWarner
BWA
told me.

The IMS Museum is closed until April 2025 for major renovations. That has created some unique opportunities for the Borg-Warner Trophy which has always been housed on IMS grounds.

From April 1956 to early April 1976 the Borg-Warner Trophy was displayed in the “old” Museum, once located where the IMS Administration Building now stands.

From April 5, 1976 to early November 2023 the Borg-Warner Trophy resided in the current infield Museum between Turns 1 and 2 at the Speedway.

For now, the Borg-Warner Trophy is in storage. Its last public appearance was on December 15 when 107^th Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden’s image was unveiled on the Borg-Warner Trophy at a special ceremony at the Stutz Museum in downtown Indianapolis.

In late January, the trophy will travel to The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan for the Baby Borg ceremony when Newgarden and Team Penske team owner Roger Penske will receive miniature versions of the Borg-Warner Trophy to commemorate the big win on May 28, 2023.

There will be a few appearances scheduled for the trophy, such as the “100 Days to the 108^th Indianapolis 500 countdown annually held in Indianapolis. After that, it is scheduled for some cleaning and restorations before it returns in April before events leading up to the Month of May and the 2024 Indianapolis 500.

“We are working on that closely with the museum and with IMS,” Collins said. “In the offseason, we aren’t doing as much of it. It is stationary and at the museum.

“But there is some restoration work I’m planning on having done to it. Just some touch ups to the wooden base and that base around the bottom that needs some refurbishing to it. I’m hoping to get that done during some of this downtime and before the next race in May.”

The Borg-Warner Trophy is owned by BorgWarner, not the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or the Indianapolis 500. But it has been a valuable connection between BorgWarner and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since it appeared in victory lane for the first time in 1936 when Louis Meyer became the first three-time Indianapolis 500 winner.

After the 2024 Indianapolis 500, the Borg-Warner Trophy will go on the road and make visits to museums around the country in what is being called a “residency.” That could mean a return trip to The Henry Ford and other significant museums in the United States.

Other possibilities could be the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky and The Penske Racing Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.

“Potentially,” Collins told me. “As for The Henry Ford, we think it would be a really neat tie-in with the ‘Motorsports in America’ display they have their now. I was able to personally go see that last week. A phenomenal display. One of which I know Team Penske has put a lot of support into, as well as a lot of local automotive OEMS in the metro Detroit area.”

Another potential stop for the Borg-Warner Trophy could be Nashville, Tennessee. It will be the final destination of the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season and a champion will be decided in the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix.

Although the Borg-Warner Trophy honors the winner of the Indianapolis 500 and the Astor Cup celebrates the IndyCar Series champion, BorgWarner sees Nashville as a vibrant venue to showcase the history of IndyCar and the Indy 500.

It is also the home of the 2023 Indianapolis 500 winner, Newgarden, who is from nearby Hendersonville, Tennessee.

“It’s funny how that happens, when we have an international driver, the first thing they want to do is celebrate and bring the trophy back to their hometown with their community,” Collins explained. “Because we had a driver from the United States win it, it didn’t come up as naturally in conversation as it did.

“But I have been thinking about it a lot, the race in Nashville, what the tie-in is that we can do there. I would definitely love to make it happen and I’m sure we can.”

BorgWarner has facilities all over the world and the Borg-Warner Trophy does more than honor the winners of the Indianapolis 500. It remains a great morale booster for the entire BorgWarner Corporation and its massive workforce.

“Our employees based in Indianapolis feel an even stronger connection to that,” Collins said. “Globally, it’s something we are very proud of.

“With having so many international drivers win the Indianapolis 500 over the last 10 years, that has really brought an extra level of awareness, even within our company. Taking the trophy back to the hometown visits, everywhere we have gone we have a location, so we are able to celebrate it with a lot of our employees in those countries. A lot of them have told me afterwards, ‘Hey, I’ve become a real fan of this. Now, I’m able to stream the race and watch it.’

“We’ve brought it to Sweden and had lots of fans at our location there who I found out later travel every year to see the race. I think that has done a lot, even within our employee population to increase our awareness globally.”

The Borg-Warner Trophy may be taking up residency in 2024, but it’s home will always be the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500.

Although it is going on the road, it isn’t a permanent move.

“We are in discussions collaboratively with some other museums where we are hoping to have it potentially on a temporary display,” Collins said. “We want to keep it close to Indianapolis and have it somewhere where fans can enjoy it, especially during the race.

“There is still a lot of discussion going on with that.

“Indianapolis is such a cool community. People from Indianapolis know. As soon as you know somebody is from there or have ties there, there is one common thread and that is the Indianapolis 500.”