BorgWarner to Present Indy 500 Driver's and Team Owner's Trophies at 2009 SAE World Congress

BorgWarner to Present Indy 500 Driver's and Team Owner's Trophies at 2009 SAE World Congress

Driver Scott Dixon and Team Owner Chip Ganassi to be Honored for 2008 Victory

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., April 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Following his victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway last May, Scott Dixon posed with the coveted BorgWarner Indianapolis 500 Trophy(TM) in Victory Lane and earned a permanent position on the base of the world-famous award. On Wednesday, BorgWarner (NYSE:BWA) Chairman and CEO Tim Manganello will recognize Dixon's victory with the BorgWarner Championship Driver's Trophy(TM). Chip Ganassi will also receive the BorgWarner Championship Team Owner's Trophy(TM). "We congratulate Scott Dixon and the Target Chip Ganassi Racing Team for their 2008 victory, and look forward to presenting these symbols of their exceptional achievement," Manganello said.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090420/DE01394)

The awards will be presented during the 2009 Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) World Congress on April 22 held at the Cobo Conference & Exhibition Center in Detroit, Michigan. A one-of-a-kind replica of the BorgWarner Indianapolis 500 Trophy, the BorgWarner Championship Driver's Trophy is awarded each year to the winner of the Indianapolis 500. Known as the "Baby Borg" in the automotive racing world, the sterling silver trophy is 14 inches high, weighs 5 pounds and rests on a 4-inch by 8-inch beveled black marble base. The base is inscribed with the winner's name and year of victory and includes a hand-crafted, 2-inch, 3-dimensional sterling silver image of the winning driver's face, which is a duplicate of the image affixed to the full-sized trophy. BorgWarner established the driver's trophy in 1988 to provide each Indianapolis 500 winner with a lasting keepsake of their Speedway victory.

In 1998 the company established the BorgWarner Team Owner's Trophy as a companion to the Championship Driver's Trophy. The Team Owner's Trophy is presented to the owner of the winning Indianapolis 500 racing team and recognizes the significance of the team owner's role in the Indy Racing League. Like the Championship Driver's Trophy, the Team Owner's Trophy is a replica of the Indianapolis 500 trophy, but has a band of art-deco racing cars accentuated in gold to symbolize the importance of teamwork in auto racing and the automotive business.

On display in the BorgWarner exhibit area (booth 1543) will be the original, full-sized BorgWarner Indianapolis 500 Trophy. The art-deco trophy is one of the most recognized symbols in spectator sports. Also on display will be the Wheeler-Schebler trophy, a Tiffany-designed sterling silver urn commissioned by Frank Wheeler and George Schebler, founders of the Wheeler-Schebler Carburetor Company. This trophy was the precursor to the present BorgWarner Trophy.

Auburn Hills, Michigan-based BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE:BWA) is a product leader in highly engineered components and systems for vehicle powertrain applications worldwide. The FORTUNE 500 company operates manufacturing and technical facilities in 60 locations in 18 countries. Customers include VW/Audi, Ford, Toyota, Renault/Nissan, General Motors, Hyundai/Kia, Daimler, Chrysler, Fiat, BMW, Honda, John Deere, PSA, and MAN. The Internet address for BorgWarner is: http://www.borgwarner.com/.



Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090420/DE01394
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: BorgWarner Inc.


CONTACT: Mary Brevard, +1-248-754-0881, or David Peterson,
+1-248-754-0883, both of BorgWarner Inc.

Web Site: http://www.borgwarner.com/