How IndyCar’s Borg-Warner Trophy came together despite disaster

There’s no shortage of traditions when it comes to the Indianapolis 500, but the major role that Will Behrends played in the race’s legacy – crafting the race winner’s likeness on the famous Borg-Warner Trophy – left his usual tradition in the wake of the disaster. Fallen by Hurricane Helen.

Helen formed in the Caribbean Sea in September this year, becoming a Category 4 hurricane in just four days as it moved through the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida. Fierce winds gusting up to 137 mph left debris in its path across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. This resulted in more than 230 deaths as Helen became the mainland’s deadliest hurricane since Katrina in 2005.

The Behrends town of Tryon, located in Polk County at the base of the Blue Ridge escarpment in western North Carolina, has an estimated population of 1,600 people, and was one of those affected by Helen. The state of North Carolina, in particular, was the victim of flooding, mudslides, countless downed trees, washed out bridges and impassable roads, while more than 700,000 residents were left without power.

The Behrends count themselves among the more fortunate.

“There’s a lot of devastation around us,” Behrends told motorsport.com. “For the two weeks that we were down, my wife and I were there volunteering, bringing and taking stuff to other people.

“We didn’t have electricity, but we had a generator and Starlink internet, so we were lucky. We are at a higher altitude, so we did not get hit by floods. “Many people around us lost their homes and were left with nothing.”

Uniquely, Helen attended the same week that Josef Newgarden, winner of the last two Indy 500s, was originally scheduled to arrive for the meeting – a moment when Behrends added the final details to a life-size facial sculpture before everyone was moved to . Smaller version cast in silver and mounted on the historic trophy. Behrends had Newgarden’s life-size head almost finished and ready for the final stages when the storm arrived.

The Behrends used a generator to provide electricity to the house, but time spent in the studio working on the final stages of the clay models came only because of the natural light filtering through their many windows.

“This year was already a challenge because the latter part of my process is to cast these images in silver – and for the last 34 years, I have had one person I trust doing it. And he retired,” Behrends said. “So, in addition to all these other challenges that came up.

“Nothing happened for two weeks because we had no electricity for 12 days. And that was the time when Joseph was going to come here. Not having them here, basically, took away what has become a very valuable tool for men – and that is, sitting down face to face with someone, talking to them. This is very valuable for a portrait sculpture, as you can get so much from photographs alone. You work better, and it’s more enjoyable, when you can actually connect with them eye-to-eye. We didn’t have that, so that was another challenge.

The meetings initially began in 2015 when Juan Pablo Montoya captured his second Indy 500. This was the time when life-size models became part of the process. Previously, Behrends worked for 15–20 minutes the day after the race with the winner and any drawings he received.

Helen’s influence set his practice back a decade, but it also added its own unique challenges. About 60 percent of Newgarden remained unfinished when the “freak storm,” as Behrends calls it, hit. He was not sure he would even meet the deadline.

“It came down to the wire,” he said. “Fortunately, it turned out well. We got a really good product and it got delivered on time, but there were a lot of wheels turning during that time.

With an illustrious career in his own right, Behrends has created sports-related sculptural masterpieces over the past 50 years. Beyond the Borg-Warner Trophy, he has created statues of Major League Baseball legends such as Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson, most of which reside in their teams’ ballparks. Looking back on this latest challenge, there is a sense of pride in creating Newgarden’s likeness, especially despite the obstacles provided by nature.

“I’m satisfied with that,” Behrends said. “It’s funny, it’s the only thing I’ve done in my 50-year career and I keep doing it year after year. Everything else is kind of the same. Doing this year after year, how do you make it fresh every year? My challenge to myself is to try not to do what I did last year; To bring a little more to it every year. Which becomes a little difficult after 35 years.

Newgarden, who became First back-to-back winners of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” Since Helio Castroneves in 2001-02, he was finally able to see his likeness unveiled on the Borg-Warner Trophy in a ceremony at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway earlier this month. Behrends couldn’t attend, but the moment brought a smile to the Team Penske driver’s face, as he praised the sculptor for being able to step up and complete the project.

“I think it just speaks to Will’s character,” Newgarden told Motorsport.com. “He is a very sweet person. She has a beautiful family, she got a chance to meet all of them including her granddaughters. He faced a lot of obstacles this year, including everyone in the area, and he still went ahead and created an incredible masterpiece. He is a true professional.”

According to Gov. Roy Cooper, the ruins left by Helen in North Carolina alone caused $53 billion in damage and required recovery, with 126,000 homes damaged by Helen’s strength. The previous record for damages was $17 billion in 2018 from Hurricane Florence, which hit the eastern part of the state.

“It’s really a sad situation,” Behrends said. “There were a lot of trees around us, but we survived it better than other trees around us. Right below us in the valley, there is a restaurant that everyone likes because it is right by the river and there is a covered bridge leading from the parking area to the restaurant. The bridge, the restaurant, it’s all gone now. It has just been washed away. “People lost their homes along with their businesses.”

However, one oddity was that one of BorgWarner’s facilities in Asheville was also in the path of the storm, but fortunately it was spared along with the employees.

Michelle Collins, BorgWarner’s global director of marketing and public relations, then expressed her sympathy for those who suffered. She was also grateful for the experience Newgarden had with Behrends after winning his first Indy 500 the previous year.

“It would have been great to do it again this year, but I’m glad he already had that experience,” Collins told Motorsport.com. “Of course, it’s entirely possible he could still win again. And we are counting on that too. But Will, as always, did a great job and worked with what he had.”

And there are already thoughts for Newgarden that he will make history in 2025 as the first driver to win three consecutive Indy 500s and get a chance to return to Tryon.

“It was unfortunate we didn’t get there this year,” Newgarden said, “but I told them I would love the opportunity to win three years in a row and come back and make the Tour, and I hope we get that chance.”