When Ryan Hunter-Reay’s sculpted face was unveiled on the Borg-Warner Trophy as the winner of the 98th Indianapolis 500 Wednesday evening at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, leave it to his 2-year-old son Ryden to give it the most convincing sign of approval.
“He went right up to it and pointed at my face and said, ‘Dada.’ That’s pretty good,” Hunter-Reay told FOXSports.com.
Hunter-Reay’s dramatic victory in this year’s Indianapolis 500 - where he defeated Helio Castroneves by just 0.06 seconds in the second-closest finish in Indy 500 history - has done just as much for Ryden as for his father. Remember the priceless looks from the young lad in his “Magic Suit” and the priceless look on his face when his Mother and Indy 500 winning Dad were “Kissing the Bricks?”
Ryan Hunter-Reay admitted the same feeling of anticipation as a child feels on Christmas Day. When Scott Gallett, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations, unveiled the trophy for BorgWarner, Hunter-Reay had all the excitement of seeing his likeness immortalized on one of the world’s most famous trophies as Ryden will feel when he opens his gifts.
“Today felt more like stamping the seal on the whole thing,” Hunter-Reay said. “After the 500 it’s so busy and hectic you get to see the Borg-Warner Trophy and really celebrate with your team for only a few hours and then you are off to the media obligations and the next round of the championship with so many races back-to-back. There was no real opportunity to really contemplate and understand how big of an accomplishment it was.
“This was that opportunity and I felt like it completed the whole accomplishment, for sure.”
It all begins with a photo of the winning driver that is shot the day after the Indianapolis 500. Hunter-Reay did not have any input of the photos that were chosen. A 360-degree photo of Hunter-Reay was taken the day after he won the Indianapolis 500 and rest was up to noted sculptor Will Behrends of Tryon, North Carolina, who went through a lengthy process to make the image.
“You hope that you were smiling right,” Hunter-Reay said. “You are definitely thinking about because it’s going to be there forever. It’s one of the greatest trophies in sports.”
For the past 25 Indianapolis 500s, Behrends is the man who sculpts the winner’s face that goes on the Borg-Warner Trophy. Behrends has created every face on the Borg-Warner Trophy since Arie Luyendyk in 1990.
The image of the Indianapolis 500 winner on the Borg-Warner Trophy is only his face and is less than the size of an egg. Behrends uses the same piece of clay that he has been using since 1990. It takes two to three months from start to finish for him to complete the face for the Borg-Warner Trophy. He begins with clay, then makes a mold of the clay to refine the detail of the face on a harder material. After he has it to his satisfaction, the face is then cast onto Sterling Silver.
The final work of art was then unveiled Wednesday night.
“After winning the Indianapolis 500 and you see the trophy and you think to yourself after climbing out of the car that one day my face will be on there,” Hunter-Reay admitted. “It’s pretty amazing to see the job Borg-Warner has done with it and Will Behrends did an amazing job with it. He really did. I think he nailed it. Any time I look at the trophy it’s surreal to see my name and my face on the same trophy as the legends of our sport – the guys I idolized growing up.
“I called up Will Behrends and thanked him for what a great job he did. That’s a big deal because if there was a face on there that looked nothing like yourself it would have been a pretty big letdown but he did an amazing job. He definitely nailed it.”
It’s a real art form that Behrends is able to achieve with a likeness on the trophy that looks exactly like Hunter-Reay’s face.
“I can imagine how difficult it is but he got it right on,” Hunter-Reay said. “It’s something I will be able to bring my family back to the in the future to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. I can’t wait to take my son, Ryden, there and relive what we went through together. He is still a bit too young to remember it but when he is older we can go back and really put it all together when we visit the museum and look at the Borg-Warner Trophy.”
Hunter-Reay’s face is now on the permanent trophy for the Indianapolis 500. On Jan. 14, 2015 at the Detroit Auto Show, the winning driver will get a trophy that he gets to keep for his very own -- the “Baby Borg.”
“That’s where you get to take home a piece of the Indy 500 with you,” Hunter-Reay said. “I have a spot laid out in my house in my office ready for it front and center. I can’t wait to get it. That’s the opportunity to take it home. But really there is nothing like looking at the Borg-Warner Trophy in person. It’s an amazing piece of art and to have my face on there is such an honor.”
The 98th Indianapolis 500 has forever achieved a special place in the dramatic history of the “World’s Most Famous Race.” It may have been the most thrilling finish in Indy 500 history and will be one of the standout races in that remarkable history of that event.
“That’s one thing I’m really proud about is how that race finished,” Hunter-Reay explained. “It was an iconic Indy 500. That is how it’s supposed to be. That’s what the Indy 500 is all about. The fact it was a wheel-to-wheel, white knuckle, intense race to the end it’s really special for me to hear that from the fans as well. They always tell me that’s one of the most exciting races they have ever watched and that means a lot.
“Driving under the tunnel coming in with my wife Beccy and son Ryden she asked me, ‘Can you believe you actually won this race?’ No, I really can’t believe it. One day maybe I’ll be accustomed to it but I still have to pinch myself a little bit. It’s that big of a deal.
“I’m really excited about where I am on the trophy – front and center.”
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(From left) Beccy, Ryden and Ryan Hunter-Reay pose with the Borg-Warner Trophy.
