Special Borg-Warner Trophy Edition with 109th Indianapolis 500 winner Alex Palou, sculptor William Behrends, BorgWarner President and CEO Josef Fadool, BorgWarner’s Michelle Collins and FOX Sports feature producer Katie Weigel

Bruce Martin:
IndyCar fans, it's time to start your engines. Welcome to Pit Pass Indy, a production of Evergreen Podcast. I'm your host, Bruce Martin, a journalist who regularly covers the NTT IndyCar Series. Our goal at Pit Pass Indy is to give racing fans an insider's view of the exciting world of the NTT IndyCar Series in a fast-paced podcast featuring interviews with the biggest names in the sport. I bring nearly 40 years of experience covering IndyCar and NASCAR, working for such media brands as NBCSports.com, SI.com, ESPN SportsTicker, Sports Illustrated, Auto Week, and Speed Sport. So let's drop the green flag on this episode of Pit Pass Indy. Welcome to Pit Pass Indy as we continue our fifth season of giving IndyCar fans an inside look at the most exciting form of racing on the planet, the NTT IndyCar Series. One of the highlights of the off-season is a trip to William Barron's studio in Tryon, North Carolina, as he sculpts the next face of the winning driver of the Indianapolis 500 that will be added to the famed Borg-Warner Trophy. The newest face is Alex Palou, whose likeness cast in Sterling Silver will join all the other Indianapolis 500 winners on the permanent BorgWarner trophy. Thanks to our friends at Borg Warner, Pit Pass Indy had the chance to spend the day with Palou and Behrens for a live study session on September 18th. Palou served as the model as Behrens meticulously worked on a life-size clay head of Palou, adding the finer details, an important part of the process. Once that process is completed, a sterling silver casting about the size of an egg will be attached to the Borg Warner trophy. Later in November, Bellows' face will be unveiled on the BorgWarner trophy in Indianapolis. This edition of Pit Pass Indy is packed with plenty of great interviews from that trip to try on North Carolina. Let's start with this exclusive interview with BorgWarner president and CEO, Joseph Fadool. Today, we're honored to be joined by the president and CEO of BorgWarner, Joseph Fadool. We're not at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We're also not in a boardroom in Detroit. We're in Tryon, North Carolina. And I think you would agree, this is a heck of a place to do an interview. Beautiful setting. We're at sculptor William Barron's residence, where today he unveiled the clay head in front of Alex Pillow, the winner of the 109th Indianapolis 500. We know it's a big deal because you're here. The BorgWarner CEO put it in his schedule to come to this. What do you think in the entire day?

Josef Fadool: Oh, it's been such a great day, and I can't think of a better place to host this event than at Will in Charlotte. Will's been the sculptor serving the sport, you know, for the last 30-plus years, and he does such a fantastic job. So, you know, for me, it's just exciting, and to be a part of it, to meet Alex, spend some time with him and some of the other people involved in the race, it's a great day.

Bruce Martin: You not only get to meet Alex, you get to spend quality time with Alex because we're going to be here most of the day and some of us here into the night, but to be able to have that type of interaction with somebody who is important to BorgWarner, the BorgWarner Trophy because of his victory in the Indianapolis 500, just how important is that to BorgWarner?

Josef Fadool: Well, it's extremely important. And just spending some time with Alex, you can tell right away, he's a very humble person. He comes from a place of wanting the best for his sport and for his team. But he's not doing it in a way that's disrespectful to anybody. He's just a wonderful human being. And I think it fits terrifically with Borg Warner. I mean, Borg Warner, we stand for excellence. teamwork, collaboration, and being humble. It's one of the things we talk about inside the company. No matter how good you are or what you achieve, at the end of the day, you got to stay grounded and focus on your next thing.

Bruce Martin: Well, also there's an element of class to what Alex does, the way Alex portrays himself, both in and out of the race car, but also Borg Warner stands for an element of class, the way they conduct business, especially with all of the different companies you're involved with around the world and all of the other business to business opportunities you're with. How do you begin to describe just how valuable your connection is with BorgWarner to have the Indianapolis 500 as one of the great things that you can use to display BorgWarner's excellence?

Josef Fadool: Well, it's hard to explain, but if you think about how old the company is, which is over 100 years old, we've been pioneers and innovators in the mobility space. And nearly that long, we've been a part of the Indianapolis 500 through the trophy. The trophy was commissioned in 1935 and showed up for its first race in 1936. And I think we'd argue it's the most iconic trophy in all of sports. So to be a part of that, I think, and for so long to be at the pinnacle of the sport, I think these drivers really show us how important it is to have that long of a tradition. And we feel the same about the company. We want to make sure the company is here for the next hundred years. So I think there's a lot of corollary between the two.

Bruce Martin: Here we are in Trinidad, North Carolina, I would say about 30 miles up the road, maybe 40. I'm not quite so sure in terms of distance, but the turbochargers are made at a BorgWarner facility that are used on all the IndyCars. Does this trip also afford you the opportunity to go to the plant?

Josef Fadool: So on this trip, unfortunately, my schedule is too tight. I couldn't make a trip to Asheville, but I was recently down there. And you're absolutely right. They are the engineering team and the manufacturing team for turbos in North America. And they also engineer these high-performance turbos for the Indianapolis 500. So it's just ironic that we're right in the backyard of where all the technology is developed for the turbos. And so it's a very cool place to be. I think Will and Charlotte have a beautiful place here and hope to get back to Asheville soon.

Bruce Martin: So when you took over and became the president and CEO of BorgWarner, How much were you engaged with the Indianapolis 500 prior to your promotion? And now that you're in charge of the company, how important is it to be a part of that connection?

Josef Fadool: Well, you know, I've always been a race fan of the Indianapolis 500 since a young boy. I think that's something at least a lot of my friends during that time you grew up with. You know, you always look forward to that race, the Memorial Day weekend. When I joined BorgWarner in 2010, That's when I realized how important this race is to the company. And so I've been to 13 of the last 15 races since joining the company. It's really renewed my interest in the sport. Also attending all the races and being much more integrally part of that whole weekend. You can't help but get excited about it. I mean, I think of you, I don't even love cars, which I do. Being there for the weekend just creates a lot of energy and a lot of joy for anyone involved. So for me, it's just been a great ride.

Bruce Martin: But also, since that time, BorgWarner has been able to also utilize the entire process of getting the winner's face on the trophy as a marketing tool, a marketing opportunity. A lot of credit goes to Michelle Collins, the global vice president of marketing and communications, and also to Steve Schunk, who helps orchestrate all of this BorgWarner trophy. He's turned it into almost a season into itself with sculpting session and then followed by the unveiling, which will be later this year, and then the Baby Borg presentation. How do you even begin to describe just how important it is to really get out and show the world the process of getting on the Borg Warner Trophy.

Josef Fadool: So that's right, Bruce. Steve and Michelle, I've got so much respect for them and their marketing genius. We started doing this about 10 years ago, coming to Will's place and really expanding the process to, you know, be more open to the fans and anyone who follows Indy 500. Our marketing team has done just a great job to make it what it is today, and it gets better every year. For us, it's important because, you know, we see that Indianapolis 500 and the overall NTT race is becoming more global. A lot of the racers are European or Asian. So it just gives us a chance to, you know, get that reach out beyond the U.S. into some of these other markets. We have the case where we actually take the trophy on the road now. We allow the driving team to sponsor it in their hometown or the town of their choice. So it's been overseas a number of times to help them celebrate their win at Indy 500.

Bruce Martin: You may not be ready to announce it yet, but do you have some surprising plans on where that may be in 2025?

Josef Fadool: Well, Alex is from Spain and we're working on plans with him to see if we can manage the trophy going to Spain so he can celebrate with a lot of his friends and family and any other Indy race drivers or I should say race fans that choose to show up. So still early in the process, but we hope we can make that trip.

Bruce Martin: And can you even begin to describe the pride that you feel on race morning at the Indianapolis 500 when you see the long path led by the Gordon Pipers and the Purdue University band and others on the pace car when the trophy leaves the museum and makes its long way up onto the track and comes out of turn four for the official presentation where it goes up on the stage in pre-race ceremonies?

Josef Fadool: Yeah, you know, you realize a couple of things when you're that involved in the process and the ceremony. First, you know, you realize how important of a race it is to Indianapolis. And it involves so many more people than just the folks at the track or the drivers or the teams. uh… the whole community wraps their arms around this race leading up to it uh… and then after the race so it really is a big part of the identity of indianapolis among other things uh… so that's one thing you realize The second thing is there is tons of pride. I mean, just to be a small part of the overall ceremony, the race, all the celebration at the end, being in winner's circle, you feel very humbled and privileged to play a role in the whole thing. And we couldn't be happier about that.

Bruce Martin: When you walk into a boardroom or you're conducting business with a potential client, how often do they just talk about the BorgWarner Trophy?

Josef Fadool: Well, especially around race time. It comes up much more often, especially in this country. So it's something to connect with customers and of course the board members fully supportive and few of them have been to the race and just love it. So yeah, it's something that connects all the BorgWarner employees together and we love the spring. It's just race season and it's the kickoff of Um, a lot of the work that the teams are doing. And so we'd like to get involved where we can. And, uh, of course the pinnacle of it is, uh, the end of May.

Bruce Martin: The Indianapolis 500 is back to being a sellout. And this past year's Indianapolis 500 had 7.1 million viewers, the most in 18 years. How big a news was that for Borg Warner?

Josef Fadool: Well, hey, it's fantastic. I mean, what Roger Penske and team have been able to do since purchasing the Raceway, also bringing in Fox Sports, all the teams that continue to participate, it's been fantastic. So, you know, I think the sky's the limit. We're really excited about the trend and, you know, to have a sold out crowd at the Raceway, it's incredible. I don't know if there's another event globally that sells out that many seats, over 350,000 seats, I believe. And to hear the noise is awesome. I mean, you've been there, right? It's just awesome to hear the noise of the engines, but also the noise of the crowd. So it makes the event so much more better, so much more impressive. And yeah, I think next year is gonna be even better.

Bruce Martin: I've been there all right, every year since 81. You tell people who've never been in the Indianapolis 500 that it's unlike anything you could ever experience. And that's why so many people, such as myself, you go once, you're hooked.

Josef Fadool: That's right. As I mentioned, I actually didn't attend my first race until May of 2011. So having watched this iconic race on TV all those years, and then to be there in person, there's nothing like it.

Bruce Martin: And as far as the business community, what are some of the things that BorgWarner is involved with as we get ready to enter 2026?

Josef Fadool: So, you know, BorgWarner, we are one of the premier powertrain companies around the globe. We support our customers to make sure they've got highly efficient, affordable and carbon reduced powertrains. So, you know, we continue on that journey. whether it's developing the next generation turbocharger to improve fuel economy or building four-wheel drive systems for our customers, but also some of the new products like motors and battery products, inverters, to support electrification. It's just a great, great industry to be a part of.

Bruce Martin: I know that BorgWarner is thoroughly behind electrification. It seems like the automotive industry on its own has chosen the path of hybridization for a while so that you can get more power with less amount of fossil fuel by combining it with electrification. Do you think that's the direction the automotive industry will be doing for the next decade or so?

Josef Fadool: Well, definitely hybrids are going to play a bigger role than most people imagined. Electrification is playing out more quickly in other parts of the world. If you look to China, more than 50% of the cars are BEVs, pure battery electric or hybrid. Europe is growing both hybrids and battery electric. We're probably going to see a little bit slower transition in this country in the next three or four years. But, you know, people still love to buy new cars that perform better than the last one they had and have better fuel economy. And in our view, electrification over time is the only way to really improve fuel economy and decarbonize mobility. So, yeah, we think it's the right thing to do long term. It's just going to play out at a little bit different speeds in the various markets around the globe.

Bruce Martin: And finally, as I like to point out, BorgWarner's relationship with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500 is easily the longest running continuous sports sponsorship of any sporting event in the world. BorgWarner Trophies showed up for the first time in Victory Lane in 1936. It's only 10 years away. When you think about you're that close to celebrating 100 years with the Indianapolis 500 with the BorgWarner Trophy, That has to be a pretty awe-inspiring accomplishment.

Josef Fadool: Oh, we are so looking forward to the 100th anniversary. We haven't begun planning for it yet. We got some time, but if you just think about that, it just shows you that this race, this trophy, it transcends all of us. You know, it's the only trophy that is a historic collection through the faces of each of the drivers, of all the winners at Indy 500. So I think it just is going to get better from here, and I'm really looking forward to continuing to celebrate with you, Bruce, and many others as we lead up to that 100th year.

Bruce Martin: Well, this is always one of my favorite days of the year outside of going to races is coming to Will Barron's studio here in beautiful Tryon, North Carolina. Enjoy the rest of the trip. Congratulations on once again, Borg Warner's involvement with the Indianapolis 500. Joseph Fadool, president and CEO of Borg Warner. Thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy.

Josef Fadool: Thank you, Bruce. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Bruce Martin: Michelle Collins is BorgWarner's Global Director, Marketing and Communications. Collins joins me for this exclusive Pit Pass Indy interview to explain why this program is so important to both the Indianapolis 500 and BorgWarner. Once I introduce you to our next guest, you'll know what time of the year it is. It is BorgWarner. Global Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Michelle Collins. Michelle, it's September, so I'm taking a guess that we're doing this interview at Will Barron's studio in Tryon, North Carolina. This year, Alex Pillow's face is being crafted for the latest face to be added to the BorgWarner Trophy. We've talked in the past, but I know this is one of your favorite events. How does it feel that it's here again?

Michelle Collins: It's hard to believe it's that time of year, and you're right. We're at Will Barron's studio working on the face sculpting here with our wonderful sculptor, Will Barron's, and Alex Pillow. Just super cool. We're super excited to be working with Alex. New face on the trophy, a new year ahead. So having a great time here doing that.

Bruce Martin: In previous years, coming to this event, it's been yourself, the winner of the Indy 500, Steve Schunk, your assistant, who helps put all this together, William Behrens, his wife, Charlotte, myself, and some photographers. But this year, you had a whole crew from Fox Sports doing a feature on it. You had a TV crew from Fox 59 in Indianapolis down. It seems like this event is becoming bigger and bigger every year.

Michelle Collins: It really is and we're so thankful for the hospitality of Will and his wife Charlotte to host the event here and allow us to bring some people in to share the excitement with. We're super excited to be working with Fox this year. So glad that they could carve out some time and bring some folks down to help cover this. I think it's going to give us some great content for the year ahead and also some teasers for the next Indy 500.

Bruce Martin: This year, unlike last year when this event was canceled because of Hurricane Helene, we're able to get back into a beautiful day here in Western North Carolina in the mountains. And when you have a new face that you're going to highlight on the trophy, how exciting is that for Borg Warner?

Michelle Collins: It's great. Of course, we love to see repeat winners. So, you know, no issue with that. But when we have a new driver, it gives us an opportunity to learn about them, get to meet them, know them closer, and talk through the next year ahead. You know, this is just the start of a lot of different events around the Baby Borg and also the Big Borg Warner Trophy. We've got the face unveil to look forward to and also the baby Borg ceremony, which is still TBD based on schedules here. We're talking through some of the particulars of that and what might interest them and how and where we want to do that. But it's always great to meet a new driver and experience with them, you know, what we have in store over the next year. So all things Indy 500, all things BorgWarner and doing that together. It's special.

Bruce Martin: And another thing that shows how important an event this is, Borg Warner CEO and President Joseph Fadool is here this year. It's got to be a pretty big day when the President and CEO of the company arrives.

Michelle Collins: Yes, and that's also so great for me that he's able to spend the time, come here, meet with the driver, talk with him to get to know him more, and it just adds to the personalization of things that we can do over the next year together. I feel like it's super important to create those relationships, get to know each other better on a more personal level, and that just helps us elevate, you know, what we do over the next few months.

Bruce Martin: This event didn't exist until about 10 years ago, before they would basically do the face from photos, and you might go to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway one day, and you'd see the trophy, and then the next day you'd show up, and there's a new face attached to it. But now, this has become a marketing and promotional event for BorgWarner, and to see it grow the way you have, how satisfying is that, that it's happened under your term?

Michelle Collins: I'm super excited about it and also happy that the drivers and team are behind and supporting us with this. You know, I also was talking to Will Behrens earlier today and I said I felt bad in a way because I feel like this was such a critical part of the work he does and I felt like just only having the day after photos and working off of those really didn't even He has always done a phenomenal job, but I feel like we could have done more to also help support his work. And like I said, just to get to know the driver more personally, I feel like this sitting to add some of those little refinements to the face is super important. And I'm just happy to see this grow in the way it has, and also the excitement it brings for our CEO, you know, to be able to be a part of it. It's great.

Bruce Martin: And also you get to know Alex Polo even better. How well did you know him before today and how much better do you know him now?

Michelle Collins: Yeah, I have to say, I didn't know Alex too well. We had, you know, interacted a couple times at different races, maybe just a short, short greeting. But I think winning the Indy 500 is what really cements, you know, the budding of that relationship. And it was super important to meet with him today, get to know him better. Like I said, it helps us personalize more of the events we do together over the next few months. and learn more about him, his family, his background. It's really been great and he couldn't be nicer.

Bruce Martin: Now this isn't the end of the Borg Warner celebration of the Indianapolis 500. Later this year, Alex Pillow's face will be unveiled on the trophy. I don't know if you picked a date yet for that, but when might we anticipate that?

Michelle Collins: I think it'll be sometime in November. We're still working that out because, of course, it's a joint effort with IMS and IndyCar. We want to make sure we're also able to help, you know, their efforts in promoting the next Indy 500. So we're working on some different ideas and I anticipate it'll be sometime in November, mid to late November. Also making sure we're accommodating Will's timeline. We don't want to rush perfection.

Bruce Martin: And also Joseph Fadul hinted that the trophy may go on a trip this year. Is there anything you can tell us about that?

Michelle Collins: We'll see. There have been some discussions. I think there is a desire to bring the trophy to Spain. So we're working through that with the team and some sponsors. So we'll see where that goes. Nothing confirmed yet, but we have been discussing it.

Bruce Martin: Do you have a timeline on Baby Borg when that may be?

Michelle Collins: We talked a little bit about that earlier today. I think the ball is in Alex's court now to kind of tell us what works for him and the team. Of course, we'll get in touch with Chip as well and see what we can do. That's a great event that we can really personalize to what the team wants to do. So if they want to invite sponsors or other special guests. We're always happy to accommodate that and we've done it a lot of different ways. We've done it before at Thermal. We hit it at the beautiful Henry Ford Museum a couple of times. Also at St. Pete's one year. So like I said, it's really about what works best for the team. We want that to be exciting and not a burden for them.

Bruce Martin: Borg Warner has been involved with the Indianapolis 500 since 1936 with the trophy making its first appearance in Victory Lane. What do you see of IndyCar in 2025? The TV audience has increased dramatically. Attendance seems to be up at all the races. So how well does BorgWarner feel about IndyCar right now?

Michelle Collins: It's an exciting partnership for us, of course. You know, it's hard to believe that, you know, the milestones that we're approaching with the trophy and our involvement with the race, I mean, nearly a century. I think that's pretty impressive in and of itself. And what we always say, too, is that this race and everything IndyCar embodies the same principles in business, collaboration, teamwork, you know, a global nature. We've got international drivers. So it's it just parlays into what we do in business. And we're very proud of that.

Bruce Martin: Speaking of business, what are some of the business things that we can look forward to BorgWarner getting involved in in 2026? What do you mean, Bruce, in terms of… New business, other areas of the business that globally you may want to expand on.

Michelle Collins: Yeah. So, I mean, that's always something we're working on, right? We work with every major OEM globally. We just came off of the auto show in Germany at IAA, had great meetings with customers discussing some of the new platforms that they have coming out globally and how and where we can support. So a lot going on now. I mean, as you know, we're always propulsion focused, so it's going to remain that way. But I think we've got some exciting different platforms we're working on with different customers globally and into some new innovations and areas too.

Bruce Martin: Can you share what some of those new innovations and areas may be?

Michelle Collins: No, I unfortunately cannot, but some exciting stuff.

Bruce Martin: But to be able to showcase the platform with the turbochargers that are used at the Indianapolis 500 and the IndyCar series, how valuable is that to be able to display what BorgWarner does to the greater audience?

Michelle Collins: Yeah, that's very important for us. We're a proud partner, of course, with the series and have been supplying the series with turbochargers since 2012. You know, that work that we've done in IndyCar with the turbos parlayed into the turbos we provided to GM for the ZR1 Corvette. And that was a direct influence on that. They know our capability from these high pressure, you know, speeds and situations and knew that we could be a strong partner for their fastest street legal vehicle in the Corvette ZR1. So a lot of overlap in that for sure and helps to cement really our reputation in that space.

Bruce Martin: Well, nothing certainly has cemented the reputation of BorgWarner more than the nearly 100-year involvement with the Indianapolis 500 and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But on this particular day, it almost has to feel like a family reunion to you. because you have gotten to know the sculptor, Will Behrens, and his wife, Charlotte, and their family very well throughout all of these trips throughout the years to come down here for this sculpting session. And just how important is that from a personal level?

Michelle Collins: Yeah, I've gotten to know the Barron's family very well and a lot of their friends that accompany them to the races over the years. They just could not be nicer people, super hospitable and allowing us to host this event here and Will to invite us into his studio. And it's really an honor, like I said, to not only work with him professionally, but call him a friend.

Bruce Martin: Well, hopefully I can feel like I can call Borg Warner a friend.

Michelle Collins: Yes.

Bruce Martin: We've gotten to know each other quite well throughout these meetings coming down here to try on and also other events throughout the year. But Michelle Collins, Global Vice President, Marketing and Communications at Borg Warner. Congratulations on another great Borg Warner trophy sculpting session. You're going to love having Alex Below represent the company as the Indy 500 winner. Good luck in 2026. And thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy.

Michelle Collins: Thanks so much, Bruce, and happy to have you here with us.

Bruce Martin: We'll be right back to Pit Pass Indy after this short break. Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy. Sculptor William Behrens is the artist that has created every face on the BorgWarner Trophy since Ari Leyendyk won the 1990 Indianapolis 500. Pillow's likeness is the 36th that will be crafted by Behrens and added to the BorgWarner Trophy. Behrens joins me for this exclusive PitPass Indie interview. One of the highlights of the year is a trip to William Barron's estate here in lovely Tryon, North Carolina, as we look out on another picture-perfect, sunny, gorgeous day here at the North Carolina, South Carolina state line, the mountains in the background, or as you folks call them here, the foothills. But it's William Barron's, the sculptor for the Borg Warner Trophy. You got a new face to work on this year after having two years back to back of creating Josef Newgarden's face as the first back-to-back Indianapolis 500 winner since Elio Castroneves in 2001 and 2002. This year you got the star of the season, Alex Pillow. To have a new face and to be able to work on something different, how excited does that make you? Because it does offer a different challenge.

William Behrends: Oh, yeah, it's very exciting. It's a different challenge, but it's a new challenge, which I really enjoy. Just learning a new face and a great face. He's got a good face. And, you know, he's such a, like you said, had such a dominant season that this is really a This is a deserving win, and he's just a tremendous race car driver, and the first Spanish driver to win the Indy 500, which is cool. You wouldn't think so, but he is, and a great person. I've really enjoyed it.

Bruce Martin: Well, the thing about Alex below that strikes me is his personality comes out in his face. He's a very expressive individual that has an expressive face. Did you immediately notice those qualities?

William Behrends: I did. When I first met him, the morning after the race, when we were taking the photographs that I worked from for this study, I noticed that. Just a wonderful, engaging smile. I really tried to bring out that smile in my work, because he has such a warm smile, very expressive face, as you said.

Bruce Martin: When this thing started, you actually have been doing the face of every winner of the Indianapolis 500 since 1990. But this actual event we're at is relatively new. I believe it started in 2015 with Juan Pablo Montoya. And at that time, it was you and Juan Pablo Montoya, maybe a PR person, Steve Schunk, and maybe a media member or two. This thing has grown now to where you have Fox Sports sending an entire film crew to do this. Fox 59 out of Indianapolis sent two people down here to cover this event. You've got media interviews set up for the rest of the day. To see how big this thing has grown, it's almost become one of the highlights of the IndyCar season to many of us.

William Behrends: Yeah, it's amazing, and you're right. I think this may be the most people we've had here for one of these so far, and we love it. You know, beside the Memorial Day weekend at the race, this is one of our favorite times of the year, doing this every year, and we just love having people here and having the driver here and have them unveiling the image and seeing their reaction and everything. It's really a lot of fun, but yeah. A lot of people here this year.

Bruce Martin: A lot of your own family members have made the trip. That's almost become like a family reunion in many ways, this particular event. So that's relatively new.

William Behrends: That's true, yeah. This year, our two youngest granddaughters, who are 10 and 11, went to the race this year for the first time. And their folks had wanted them to go for a number of years because their mother, my daughter Molly, went in 1990 with me. She was 11 years old, went to the Indy for the first time, and many years after that. But she really wanted her daughters to experience what she had experienced at that age. So we thought it was the time, and they went, and they are two big IndyCar fans now, and Alex Polo fans.

Bruce Martin: Now back to Alex, we talked about how expressive his face is. You as an artist, how do you describe some of the other features, what makes his face unique and what it's like working on it? Because today you're working on the clay head, which is a life-size version of his head and face, but it's a very important part of the process.

William Behrends: Yeah, a very distinctive face. He sort of makes fun of his own nose. He says it's big, but I tell him it's a very distinctive nose. He tells me it's a family feature, but very distinctive, good, strong facial structure, cheekbones, just very expressive eyes, and just a handsome, expressive face. It's been enjoyable.

Bruce Martin: Last year, you didn't get a chance to have Josef Newgarden come in in person because Hurricane Elaine hit and pretty much devastated the area, made it a little difficult for anybody to make it up here in Western North Carolina to be able to do that. So I believe you did a lot of the work on last year's phase through photos, but now this year, you're back to your regular routine. And how important is that to have the actual driver in, in person?

William Behrends: As you said, before 2015, I did this entirely from photographs. The day after the race, when we took the photographs, it was the only time I had with the driver before I created the image. But having the opportunity for them to come here and sit and do sitting with me and let me tweak what I've done and sort of refine my image has been not only enjoyable, but a great, great value to me in doing my work.

Bruce Martin: Does this particular project keep you going as an artist in terms of the competitive level or the want, the desire to want to do it?

William Behrends: Yeah, you know, this is something, one that I, well, first of all, I do, the things that I do, I've been doing sculpture for a long time, but virtually everything I've done is a one-of-a-kind thing. It's a challenge I take in and take on and do, and then I'm on to the next one. This is the only one that I do every year. And so that's a really, I like that feature. We can look forward to that every year. And I'll tell you, Bruce, I will do this as long as I can. I love doing it and just it never gets old. So I hope I can do this for many more years.

Bruce Martin: Do you think that one of the things about having a creative profession like yourself is a lot of people see people who put in 40 years as a particular job, as soon as they're eligible to retire, they retire. But for people that are artists or for people like myself who write for a living, it's a lot different job than what other people do. We're actually doing stuff we want to do. Some people may not have the ability to do that, but we do. And I always look at age as just a number.

William Behrends: Certainly, yeah. I mean, I'm at an age where, well, all my, you know, like all my high school mates have retired a long time ago. Most people my age have. I don't want to. If I'd retired as a hobby, I'd do exactly what I'm doing now. So I've had the good fortune in the last several years to have the opportunity to do projects that I really wanted to do. So it's not like I, had to punch the clock and do something I didn't love just to keep going. I've really been very fortunate in that I do what I love doing, and I still love doing it, and I do projects that excite me.

Bruce Martin: Alex Pillow's team owner, Chip Ganassi, has now tied Roger Penske for most IndyCar Series championships with 17 apiece. You have the distinction of crafting the face of every one of Chip Ganassi's Indianapolis 500 winning drivers. So when you go back and look at all those faces that have won for Chip Ganassi at the Indianapolis 500, that's gotta be a little bit of an honor to do itself.

William Behrends: Oh, it very much is an honor. You know, he's got five different drivers and six different images because Dario won twice. But yeah, and, you know, Alex Below really added to that total. You cited a good deal in the last, I mean, he started in 2020 and he's got four IndyCar championships already. So he's really added to that. But yeah, I feel very proud to have done all the, Ganassi drivers over the years, starting with Juan Pablo Montoya.

Bruce Martin: Dario won three times, but the first one was with Andretti Green Racing, as it was known then. His last two wins of his three Indy 500 victories were with Jip Ganassi Racing. right but when you look at alex polo in the season that he had this is a year that goes down like what alan sir junior did nineteen ninety four when he won eight races including the indianapolis five hundred this is really a historic run of success and to be a part of that on the one trophy that's gonna stand the test of time How important is that to you?

William Behrends: Very much. Yeah, it's been a fun season to watch. You'd think that just the dominance that he's had this year would make it less enjoyable or less exciting, but not for me. I just love to watch an athlete, a driver like him, and a team at the top of their game just really have it together. And so I've really loved that very much. And you know, if he'd won the championship this year and not the Indy 500, it's still been an accomplishment. But for him to take it all, just super exciting. It doesn't happen very often.

Bruce Martin: So the process up to this point, you do the photos the day after the Indianapolis 500. So what did you do from that point until today, which as we sit here is September the 18th?

William Behrends: I printed those photos and lined them up in the studio and just get out the clay and do a life-size clay head that I worked on. And that's what we're working on today. So it's not finished. It's a clay study, but it's life-size. And so I unveiled that today in the studio and got his reaction to it. A couple of suggestions from him. And then we sat down and did some sittings where I just made notes and adjustments to it, the things that I had not seen in the photos that I thought could have improved it a little bit.

Bruce Martin: Is there any more left today that you'll do with Alex?

William Behrends: We might have another one final sitting. I think so.

Bruce Martin: And also the fact that Fox Sports thinks enough of this whole process to film a film crew here to do a feature on it. So it's going to even tell the world even more about the Bork Warner Trophy. That has to be a pretty prestigious honor in itself. And what did you think of Fox Sports being able to do that?

William Behrends: Well, first of all, Fox Sports, they're first rate. They do really good stuff. And so I'm excited about that. And I also love that it's calling attention to BorgWarner and their contribution of the Indy 500 from the creation of the trophy originally in 1935 and their sponsorship every year. They are such a great organization. I'm super fortunate to work with them. So that exposure really makes me feel good.

Bruce Martin: And also this is a year where the CEO, the president and CEO of Bork Warner decided to join us, Joseph Fadool. When you have the president and CEO of a major corporation like that, an international company, that's got to be pretty prestigious in itself.

William Behrends: Yeah, I mean, we've got Alex Pillow, the 2025 Indy 500 winner, and Joseph Fadul and his lovely wife sitting there at the table having lunch. Yeah, we love it. It's quite an experience for us.

Bruce Martin: And not only that, but you've spent a lot of time working with both Michelle Collins, the global vice president of marketing and communications, and a person that works very closely with her, Steve Schunk. They're almost like extended family to you. So how much does that really make this whole event that much more special?

William Behrends: They are like-extended. They're good friends. We've worked together for a number of years, and they are so good at what they do, and they're such wonderful people to work with. We just, I think that's the favorite part of it for both my wife and I, that we get to, it's like a family experience we get to experience every year.

Bruce Martin: So we talked about what you've done from the morning after the race up to this point. Now, how tight of a deadline is it from now until the face gets unveiled on the trophy later this year?

William Behrends: I think we're in pretty good shape. I, you know, I'll get right on the, uh, you know, after today, what I do is set the, the life size clay study aside and I'll do the same thing. Recreate that in the actual size, which is about the size of an egg and, uh, clay. And then I, my interim steps and eventually cast that into silver. But I think I'm in good shape. Uh, that's what's going to happen in the studio starting next week.

Bruce Martin: And when do you expect to have that finished? When do you expect to have the casting done?

William Behrends: I think, you know, I'll have to look at my calendar. I think it's the end of October this year, in which we can handle.

Bruce Martin: So anybody like you, who is an artist, who has a job because they're excellent at what they do, or even a writer such as myself, do you look at the advancement of artificial intelligence as being something that may one day take away something that's great about human accomplishment when it comes to art or craft?

William Behrends: Oh boy, that's a big subject. How long do we have? I was talking with someone earlier about that very thing, and it's going to affect everyone in writing and in sculpture. Virtually every form of expression is going to be profoundly influenced by AI. I was telling this person I was talking with about this earlier is that I really am old school. I really revere the way the sculptures have been made and the whole process and what the creators have to go through for hundreds if not thousands of years, the traditional techniques. And I've tried to hold onto those and really I've been very reluctant to to employ digital technology in my work. I do use it some here and there when it really is a time saver. But in the creation of my work, I don't use it. Although, as I told this person, I think I'm probably the last generation who will create work like this, just completely analog and without digital assistance.

Bruce Martin: Well, that's why you're in so much demand is because what you do definitely stands the test of time. I know you also work on other projects in Major League Baseball and other sports and also the U.S. Capitol. What are some of the other things you're working on now or what were some of the more recent projects that you've finished and that have been unveiled?

William Behrends: I don't have anything and the capital pieces were marble for the US Capitol and those were vice presidents. I haven't done any of those since last two I did were Dick Cheney and Al Gore. The most recent piece last year unveiled a bronze figure of Hank Aaron in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, which I love. I'm a big fan of Hank Aaron, I love baseball, and I love working with the Hall of Fame. So that was a lot of fun. That was the last piece. And then, of course, the Tom Seaver at Citi Field in New York was recent, too.

Bruce Martin: Then again, you have the Borg Warner trophy. And when you sit and see all the faces that you've done, I believe this will be number 36 for you. And when you think 109 races next year will be the 110th and 36 of those faces were done by William Barron's going to be hard to top that for any other sculptor.

William Behrends: Well, it is indeed, yeah, and I hope I'm not done, but you know, I think I'm not that good at math, but in a couple years I think I will have done one third of the images on the trophy. You know, as I look at the whole collection of them, I'm just proud because I think I've really, well, I'm proud that I've had an opportunity to have my work on something as impressive and in permanent is the Borg Warner Trophy. And also to honor each of these winners every year with my best work to really, what I try to do is represent them, what they felt like and what it meant for them on the day that they won that race. Because winning the Indy 500 is a career accomplishment. That's a big day for all these guys, and I hope I've done a good job of memorializing that moment.

Bruce Martin: Well, you certainly have, and that's why you're one of the most important people in the IndyCar series when it comes to honoring the traditions of the Indianapolis 500. Sculptor William Behrens, congratulations on your latest work featuring Alex Pillow, the winner of the 109th Indianapolis 500. Good luck in the rest of the process before we attach his sterling silver image on the BorgWarner trophy later this year. and thank you for joining us today on Pitt Pass Indy.

William Behrends: Thank you, Bruce.

Bruce Martin: For the second year in a row, Fox Sports sent a crew to Tryon, North Carolina to prepare features for its IndyCar coverage on Fox. This feature will air during the month of May coverage of the 110th Indianapolis 500 in 2026. Katie Weigel is a feature producer at Fox Sports and joins me for this informative and entertaining exclusive interview for Pit Pass Indy. One of the major highlights of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series schedule was Fox Sports being the new partner of IndyCar. Today, we're joined by Katie Weigel, feature producer at Fox Sports. Katie, we're here in Tryon, North Carolina at sculptor William Barron's studio. Today, you're filming a feature that'll run next season. Yep. And it involves how the Borg Warner face for Alex Pillow, one of the major steps in the process, How did you come up with this idea and the fact that here we are September the 18th and Fox is already filming content for the 2026 season?

Katie Weigel: Well I think one I mean it's such a prestigious event and a trophy to win that it's so It's so unique that you can't not come capture the process, which makes that so cool. I think we were here actually last year doing the same thing, but that was with Josef Newgarden. So he, being a two-time winner, Will was like, I don't, he doesn't need to be here. I can just use what I had previously. So we were fortunate enough to spend an entire day with Will, get to know the process, like start to finish, which was fantastic. And so this year is cool because it's my first time being here with a driver and Will. So it was kind of like a first for both Alex and I. So yeah, we kind of just get driver reactions. I love hearing Will kind of explain what he's doing and how he kind of does everything with like new drivers, how he molds and sculpts the face. And then one of the unique things with Fox and the whole month of Indie, we have that whole week leading up to it of just practices that were on air for so long that this piece gets so much airtime and just new eyes every day and a new audience and one more person can just kind of learn about the process.

Bruce Martin: And one of the things that makes this year more normal was last year. When you came to try on, it was within a couple of weeks after Hurricane Helene had come through and pretty much ravaged Western North Carolina, which was one of the reasons why it was difficult to… It was originally going to be set up that week when the hurricane hit, so by… delaying that and then by them deciding we'll do it off the photos rather than have Joseph come in, it probably added a different element or angle to some of the stuff that you shot. If you could describe that.

Katie Weigel: Well, it was cool because, I mean, one, like you don't typically like Like I said, the trophy already being as prestigious as it is, you don't even necessarily think about the hands that go into making such a prestigious trophy. And with Will, I believe this would be now his 36th year doing this. It was such a unique perspective to just get to talk to someone. Will, he's a fan, he's an artist, and just getting to learn what goes in behind what that trophy is. Like it, it sees so many eyes, it sees, has so many fans. And here we are in this really intimate, beautiful space with the sculptor of what everyone gets to see.

Bruce Martin: I asked William Behrens this when I interviewed him, but I said in the era where AI is rapidly approaching, if he feels like he's the last of a breed of the creative human element, he's able to do things, you yourself are also a creative individual because you direct features. So how much does that really make it even more important that this is a human who takes the time? and has the artistic eye to craft this?

Katie Weigel: Oh, he, watching him work is like butter. He's just so calm and confident. And the fact that he can just look at a picture and be like, yeah, I'm looking at this picture, you know, I've got his reactions. And then you see when he unveils it, it's a work of, I mean, it literally is a work of art. And it's, I tell, this is my second time being here. I've just told Will, I'm like, it is so refreshing and just, A truly a delight to get to see him in his craft be so good. And I think the one thing too is like this being Alex's first time, he is equally as wowed because it's, I mean, he's incredible. And being in a studio and you're just really like encapsulated in the environment in the moment, it's just such a cool memory.

Bruce Martin: And also, as I described Alex, he has a very expressive face, and that expressiveness comes out in his face that William Behrens has created.

Katie Weigel: Yeah, and that was, I mean, I was so happy that we got to see Will. unveil that, which I know is every year the same thing, like he will unveil the sculpture to a driver. But I really was just like zeroed in on Alex because I wanted to see what he how he was going to genuinely react. And he said he got the sign off. He sent pictures to his family, his wife, his grandparents, everyone. He said that he got the seal of approval from them. It is so lifelike. I mean, I truly he's will is so talented.

Bruce Martin: Fox's commitment to IndyCar is more than just being the TV partner. And at the end of July, they announced they had purchased a third stake in the ownership of Penske Entertainment, which owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500. So in a lot of ways now, it really even ups the importance level of that event through Fox Sports. And how do you feel being a part of that?

Katie Weigel: Oh, I mean, even before that was announced this past season, it being the first one, I am so thankful to have been a part of it. Everything that we got to do from where our stages were, the access we got, our shoots, everything was so cool to just take in. And I think even moving forward, we're just kind of building off of that excitement and that high that we had from that, that truly it is only gonna go up from here.

Bruce Martin: So if I could take a few moments and just go over your background. How did you get started in this? I know that you've been involved in NASCAR for a number of years with Fox. If you could just give us a little brief rundown of your career.

Katie Weigel: For sure, yeah. So I actually started at NASCAR Productions. was a production assistant and they pretty much were like, hey, sometimes we'll send our production assistants over to Fox if you're interested in live TV. And I was just like, sure, I've never worked in live TV, why not? Let's give it a try. And then immediately being there, I knew I loved sports. I knew I wanted to work in sports. And it's kind of, it really mirrors like the live television aspect, really mirrors like the quick paced of sports where you can't, you can't step away. It's so fun. You don't really stop learning ever. And you get to build so many fun relationships and you're not ever doing the same thing, which is great.

Bruce Martin: So where are you from? Where did you go to college?

Katie Weigel: So I was born in Annapolis, Maryland, but moved to Charlotte when I was five. So I'm basically from Charlotte. I went to Coastal Carolina, played soccer, then transferred to Western Carolina and was there for another four and a half years. And then after I graduated, I went to a broadcast school in Charlotte, Connecticut School of Broadcasting, where one of the professors was actually, he was a producer at Fox and he connected me with some people at NASCAR and honestly, it just kind of helped pave the way. It was great.

Bruce Martin: Well, if you went to Western Carolina, then coming to Tryon, North Carolina is like literally your neck of the woods.

Katie Weigel: Yep, 100%. Driving back up here, I was just like, it just reminds me of when I'd be driving to school or like driving around school. It was great.

Bruce Martin: You have a deep background in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. You previously worked at NASCAR. So what were your immediate impressions of IndyCar?

Katie Weigel: Oh, I love that question. Well, so for starters, like growing up in Charlotte, my family was not a racing family. We knew nothing about racing. I got involved in NASCAR because I had a family friend that said, ironically, Ganassi needed an internship. And I was like, okay, so it was a college intern with Chip Ganassi. So, which was great. And then, you know, it was like, I need to work in racing. It's so fun from a fan's perspective. So, I'm knowing motorsports was great, but I was like, I don't know IndyCar like I know NASCAR. So I'm just gonna ask a lot of questions. One, the speed of the cars is truly, it takes your breath away. It's so fun. And then I think too, just, I was honestly just talking to Alex about this, that some of those tracks feel like you're on vacation. It's so nice. The racing is just so different and like captivating in a different way that NASCAR is both still fun, but it's, I think that also the one thing that I've genuinely loved about this season being new in IndyCar is IndyCar feels very small town in the best way possible. And it's just kind of made that experience a lot more unique and the ability to like quickly grow relationships and just get to work with drivers has been even more than I could have expected.

Bruce Martin: Eric Shanks, the CEO of Fox Sports and the executive producer, says his goal is to tell the IndyCar story to the masses because he believes it's one of the greatest untold stories in sports. Do you feel that way, that that is definitely IndyCar for people that experience it, then they go, now I get it?

Katie Weigel: A hundred percent. I would say too, and as a feature producer, I have the ability to, or I'm very fortunate where I'm not in a TV truck all weekend. I might be stopping in there, but I'm out. I'm shooting with drivers. I'm shooting with fans. I'm really getting to like take in the atmosphere a lot more and being immersed in that atmosphere. Each track was new and you're getting a new fan experience. You're in a different campground. You're in a different paddock. The experience of it is just one that you want to encapsulate and just get it across on TV the best way possible. It's so fun.

Bruce Martin: I've been in the TV truck before and one of the things I've always thought to myself is the fact that One of the greatest experiences at the Indianapolis 500 is to actually be out there amongst the 350,000 people and see it with your own eyes, to see the start with your own eyes, to hear the racing cars with your own ears, to just soak it all in. And for a lot of those people in the TV truck, they don't get to do that. And I ask myself sometimes how they're so good at what they do when in some ways they're detached from the actual sensation of the event.

Katie Weigel: Yeah, I, it's, it's, again, to your point, it's, incredible how they do what they do. And I would say too, for me, going back to how fortunate I am to be able to run around and do these shoots, but then I can also pop in there. I'll come in sometimes and I'm like, we've been living two different lives today. And it's crazy because you go in the TV truck and you said you've been able to see it. You're looking at screens and it's kind of almost like, blinders in a way, because you're just looking straight at what the camera's pointing at. But everyone in there is almost seeing beyond what that screen sees, because they're also trying to help encapsulate an event. And they do such a great job.

Bruce Martin: So when does your day begin and when does it end at a typical race weekend?

Katie Weigel: Okay, let's see. So I would say if we're just planning and prepping my day, probably when I start getting, I'll talk to the producer or about just like some feature ideas that weekend, I'll kind of touch base with talent. So in terms of like, pre-weekend prep, just kind of brainstorming and figuring out what we want our pieces to be. And then I'm kind of lining up shoots, like I'll reach out to PR and get stuff squared away. I'm talking to the track, I'm talking to if we're going to shoot offsite, trying to line up locations. And then once we get there, pretty much my day could start at 6 a.m. and go to when it could go to 8 p.m. or we could be a little bit like of a later day, maybe like a 10 p.m. It's usually we're out like shooting around when they're on track. So basically Tetris thing shoots in to the on track time. So if I can get him before or after or during.

Bruce Martin: Well, NASCAR weekends can be notorious for they'll be on the track all day, and then they'll have a Friday night truck race or a Saturday night race, which now the Xfinity series is on the CW. So that doesn't necessarily affect Fox Sports. But there can be some long days at some of the, just like there's long days at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Oh, yeah.

Katie Weigel: Oh, yeah. I would say too with the benefit of with NASCAR is that they're while they are on track all day you like you said CW is taking over so it's not that same network that's on all day where with us when Saturdays especially when we had NTT and NXT It's the same crew, same talent all day long. So that's where it's definitely makes everyone's job. It's a long day. Everyone is like endurance powering through. And then to me, I'm, I'm the one that comes in. I'm like, Hey, like I will weekly, I would do a Jack Harvey and I would do track walk. And that's where I would go to him and be like, I'm so sorry. You're going to have a really early day today and it's going to be long, but let me know if there's anything I can do to help. So a lot of his track walks, we would shoot kind of early in the morning and And then he'd just go right into like a really long day and he'd power through it and he was great.

Bruce Martin: So this particular feature, how big a crew do you have? How many different people have you brought in and what are some of the technical elements that had to be trucked in here to try on?

Katie Weigel: today. So last year, actually, we, I think I told you this earlier, just knowing, I mean, we're at the top of a mountain. So last year, we brought in, I brought in a whole crew for lighting and everything because I hadn't been so I wasn't really sure what we were going to be working with. And we brought this massive box truck up with grip and electric and we were lighting and we were just everything. And then, which was great, was there, I have a couple guys here with me today who were here last year. And so they knew the lay of the land. We were like, we can do this, like same production expectation, but we can do it a little bit smaller scale. So today total, we had, let's see, I had five guys, audio, we have a drone, we have

Bruce Martin: um for our interviews we just did two cameras with one like bts camera but then all in all we've probably used five cameras today one of the things that i've always marveled at was whether you're making a motion picture or a documentary or something for television anything that's featurized how much material you will film, and how much of it will never see the light of the actual feature. So what do you see, how much do you believe you shot today, and how long will this feature probably end up being?

Katie Weigel: Again, last year we were here for a while with the anticipation of, okay, we can shoot really specific, tight stuff that we know we'll use throughout the next few years. So, which did help that I was here last year. So, we've been able to like dial it back a bit with like, I was much more intentional because I knew the process. So, I knew exactly what I needed Will to say, I know exactly what I want. to talk to Alex about, which is just really capturing his raw emotion of just being here for the first time and how exciting it is. And it's away from a track with a trophy versus you get your trophy at the track and then you're on to the next one. So the one thing, like I said earlier too, was that this piece airs so much throughout the month of May that we are able to, we could cut a longer version, we could cut a four-minute version, or in our race day show for the Indy 500, I believe the piece that aired in that was about a minute. But we had like an extended version that was running all month.

Bruce Martin: Well, and the other thing is with some of the practice days in Indianapolis, rain may play a big impact and you may have some time to film.

Katie Weigel: Oh yeah. Our producer, Pam, especially on rain days is like, give me whatever, give me what you got. You got a long one, I will take that long version. So, which has been great too, because when we, the benefit to shooting this so early is we're able to cut a couple of different versions too that we can just sell to her to air.

Bruce Martin: And finally, because you went to college here in Western North Carolina, this has to be probably a favorite assignment for you to be able to come here and do this and experience this beautiful area in September.

Katie Weigel: Oh, I know. We genuinely like driving back up through the mountains reminded me of college. And then you get to those like windy roads that are like a blind curve. And had I not been at school for four years around that, I would be like, oh, my gosh, how am I going to get up this driveway? But no, it's the fall foliage, just the, when the light hits certain parts of Will's studio that just takes your breath away. The breeze, I mean, he literally lives in like a little oasis on top of this mountain that honestly just, I think it adds to how cool and almost like whimsical just this whole thing is. It just adds such a cool layer to it. But no, it's, I love being up here.

Bruce Martin: Well, the thing about coming up some of these mountain driveways is you really say to yourself, I hope somebody's not coming down the driveway. Cause if they are, it's going to be a, there could be, there could be an impact.

Katie Weigel: Oh yeah.

Bruce Martin: Oh yeah. That's some really interesting stuff. Katie Weigel, feature producer for Fox Sports. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you for telling us the story about everything that's going to be involved in this feature and some of the other features that you do for IndyCar on Fox. And once again, thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy.

Katie Weigel: Thank you.

Bruce Martin: We'll be right back to Pit Pass Indy after this short break. Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy. We wrap up today's special BorgWarner edition of Pit Pass Indy with the star attraction of this trip to try on. It's Alex Pillow, winner of the 109th Indianapolis 500 and the man who won the NTT IndyCar Series Championship for the fourth time in five seasons, including the last three in a row. Pillow won eight races in 2025, but the biggest of all was the Indianapolis 500. Below is the 30th different driver to win the Indianapolis 500 and the NTT IndyCar Series Championship in the same year. It has happened 36 times, counting multiple winners and champions. Below joins me for this exclusive Deep Dive Pit Pass Indy interview. Hello, Alex. Hello, Bruce. We're in a very nice place for this interview. We're at Will Barron's studio here in Tryon, North Carolina. We've got the backdrop of the mountains. We've got a beautiful sunny day. Welcome to my home state of North Carolina.

Alex Palou: And now you know why I haven't moved back to the Midwest. Thank you. I love it. Honestly, I think it's an incredible place. I think the weather, it's helping us as well. But honestly, I love to be here in the middle of the mountains. I feel a little bit like home. Honestly, my parents, they live in the middle of the mountains as well. And that's where I grew up. So I love it. I love to be here. And thanks for being here.

Bruce Martin: And if you want to get away from the mountains when you live in North Carolina, you can just hop in the car, drive four or five hours, and you're on the coast. So that in itself is another great selling point. If you want to drive six hours, you can be in the Outer Banks. So I have to say, North Carolina pretty much has everything when it comes to living. But it doesn't have the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and it doesn't have the Indianapolis 500. And you, of course, won this year's Indianapolis 500, the 109th Indianapolis 500, and a fourth NTT IndyCar Series championship. The reason we're at Will Barron's studio today is because you're getting your clay head sculpted, which is one of the important steps into creating the sterling silver cast image that will go on to the BorgWarner trophy that will be unveiled sometime later in 2025. What are your initial thoughts of seeing yourself looking back at you in clay?

Alex Palou: It's a different feeling, like it's a bit scary at the beginning. Just think that it's the first time that I see myself in 3D at a 1-1 scale. yeah just think about it's like seeing somebody else but it's yourself so your mind doesn't really understand what's going on but I have to say that it's incredible like today it's a very special day it's one of those days that you always remember and it's one of those days that makes you realize that you won that race and what a special year has been just because you're getting to do those traditions that you know that this race allows you to. honestly, he did a tremendous job, he's a great artist, he explained me how the process of doing that mold and my face is and you can see the amount of hours and days that he has spent to do that, so yeah, it's incredible to be here today.

Bruce Martin: So when you see the clay head of yourself and you talked about how it was kind of scary to see it because it's your face, it's what you're looking back at. But to think that he will take that clay head and shrink it down to the size of an egg and that's what the face is going to be once it gets cast in silver and attached to the trophy. When you see the trophy, the Borg Warner trophy is here, when you realize your face is going to be on that trophy, does that hit you yet?

Alex Palou: I still cannot believe that my face will be there forever. I think the day that I see it there, I'm probably going to be like, wow, we really did it. But it's crazy. It's insane. I never thought I would have that opportunity. I never thought that I would be able to achieve that. And it feels so special, like all the tradition that is behind that trophy, the history, the drivers as well, the amount of legends that are there and that I will be forever close to them.

Bruce Martin: You know that the BorgWarner trophy is a big deal, and you know this day is a big deal, not only because you're here and you're the winner of the Indianapolis 500, but the fact that the CEO of BorgWarner, Joseph Fadool, is here. That ought to tell you just how important this day is to BorgWarner.

Alex Palou: Oh, absolutely. I mean, it's super nice of him to be here today and everything they do for IndyCar, honestly. I think they really care about our sport, they really care about our race. I had a great conversation with him. about this season and I think there were a couple of races and they were looking the season finale from home and they were so excited and just asking me about different technical questions so it's really fun to see that they are very involved and they care so much and you can see that when they care so much about the trophy.

Bruce Martin: This event was two days after the victory lap ceremony, which honored you as the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series champion, to be able, 48 hours later, to get to experience the greatest thing that comes from winning the IndyCar Series, and now the greatest thing that comes from winning the biggest race in the world, the Indianapolis 500. Are you glad they're happening so close to each other, or do you almost wish you could spread it apart a little bit?

Alex Palou: I mean, it has some pros and cons. I love the fact that I'm able to enjoy both of them, honestly. Like, to get last two days ago, celebrating our championship and our season, but today it's all about the 500, but it just feels like this year it's been so special, carrying so much momentum, so many great memories, so it's, yeah, maybe a bit spread apart would be great just so I can get to enjoy more and more and more but yeah I cannot complain about my schedule.

Bruce Martin: Have you sent your selfie back yet to your wife Esther and your daughter Lucia and what were their reactions?

Alex Palou: Esther was like, you look like three or four years older, but you look really, really close to it. So I think she was really happy. She was a bit worried, as everybody, like you want to make sure that it's your face, that whenever you look back in like 10 years, you can remember that exact day. And I think Will has done a tremendous job.

Bruce Martin: Well, take it from somebody like me who's got a face like me. If it gets too realistic, it can, in my case, it would probably scare people. That will be you at that particular time of your life. And when you go back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and you're 80 years old, you're going to be able to look at yourself at the point in time when you won the Indianapolis 500. And that has to be another thing that is really a moment that grabs you.

Alex Palou: For sure. That's what I'm most excited about. I'm very excited that Will has been able to put that moment into my face. I think everybody has different faces. And depending on how happy you are, you have different expressions. So I think he has done a tremendous job on expressing how happy I was that day. And I cannot wait. 20 years. To go to the IMS museum, look down and see my face there, it'll be a very special moment. It'll bring back these memories from this year, that day, and hopefully more auditions if I'm able to win more.

Bruce Martin: So reflect back on your victory in the 109th Indianapolis 500. What was the one thing that you were able to do this year to finally get the checkered flag and be the first across the finish line that you weren't able to do in previous years?

Alex Palou: I think we were able to execute. We were able to be under control. There were some areas, some moments of the race where We had to drop a couple positions, we had some bad restarts but we were still able to be patient to recover from those and to execute our strategy to take care of those tires, to take care of the fuel and ultimately to put ourselves in a position to fight for the race. So I think that execution that comes from the pit wall, from my crew on the pit stops, from the strategy and then also from me knowing that I had to defend that position so we were still able to fight for the race at the end, it was crucial. So yeah, I think it was that day that everything worked for us and it was the first time that we had a perfect day.

Bruce Martin: Your first year of a chip Ganassi racing was in 2021 and you were in the lead late in the race before Elio was able to get in front of you. And Elio was able to use traffic at the tail end of the lap, or maybe they were even lapped cars at that time to draft off them and disturb the air that you were getting as the car trailing him, you were able to use that same strategy to your advantage with two cars at the tail end of the lead lap in 2025. In 2021, would you have known to be able to do what you did in 2025 to win the race? No.

Alex Palou: I learned so much from Elio, the way that he was not racing only against me, he was racing against me knowing everything that was happening in that race. He knew what the third and the fourth position were doing, and he knew what was in front of us. And it seems really obvious, it's like, oh yeah, of course, you're racing and you have cars in front, but I was only thinking about overtaking him. I was only thinking about leading race and he was thinking about winning the race and using that traffic cars to his advantage so that taught me a lot I learned a lot from that and I am so happy that I was able to utilize that same technique let's say that he used in 21 to beat me to try and win the race and ultimately be an Indy 500 winner this year so yeah I am very fortunate that I got to learn that lesson very early on, on my second edition of the 500, let's say. So yeah, it was, I would say that it's a big part of Elio and that 2021 that I'm here today.

Bruce Martin: So for the fans and even some of the media members that may not understand the draft and aerodynamics and drag, if you could explain why well first of all some people were like they should have got the move over flag well they're still on the lead lap so by rule you can't have give somebody on the lead lap the move over flag correct but secondly if they had moved over to open the lane for you and marcus erickson would you have ducked back down behind them yeah so i think um

Alex Palou: You never know what could have happened, but yeah, first of all, I think those lap cars, they were not lapped, they were still on the lead lap, they were the last positions of the lead lap, but yeah, same as other races, they are there, they are fighting, and you never know if they might get a yellow, 10 laps to go, they might be able to put new tires, and ultimately win the race, like that's things that could happen, and that's why

Bruce Martin: It worked for Christian Rasmussen in Milwaukee.

Alex Palou: Exactly, in Milwaukee it was the same thing. He was not in the fight, but there was a caution, he took a gamble and it worked and he made it work. So that's what those cars were trying to do and we just utilized it to our advantage. If they would have not been there, it would have just been… a later battle against Ericsson and myself at the end of the race. So yeah, who knows what could have happened. I think it would just have been a little bit more of a battle for the last two or three laps. But still, I think we would have had an amazing shot at winning the race and fighting with Markus.

Bruce Martin: Now how do you explain the error in the slipstream from when it goes from being a benefit to the car immediately behind to a detriment for the third or the fourth place car in line?

Alex Palou: So basically we get single-seaters we get the grip with the air with downforce so when the air is there's no cars in front the air is not in in movement so you get a lot of grip then if you're second that car that is in front of you it's making that air move so in the corners you don't have as much grip but on the straights you don't need to move that air he's moving it for you so therefore you're a little bit faster so it's actually better if you're second but the issue is if you're third or fourth Every car is moving the air so it's just making a lot of turbulence and it's just making you lose so much grip and you cannot even go fast on the straight. So it's a technique, it's a technique of how comfortable you are by running third or fourth or second. losing a little bit of grip on the corners but gaining a lot on the straightaway, but that's basically it. When the air moves, it's better for the straights but worse for the corners.

Bruce Martin: So how many cars back do you say have a chance to make a pass for the win at the end of a race like that?

Alex Palou: If it's at the end of the race, when everybody is dialed in and everybody is on the same tire situation, I would say that you can make it if you're third If you're second, if you're fourth, it's already very tough. You need somebody to do a small mistake for you to have an advantage or for you to have an opportunity. But I would say that if you're second, third, it's doable. From there, you just need a lucky moment.

Bruce Martin: So today you're going to get a chance to meet a lot of the people from BorgWarner. You're also going to get a chance to get to know the sculptor, William Behrens, more. What are your initial reactions to the people of BorgWarner and their commitment to the Indianapolis 500 and the IndyCar?

Alex Palou: The first thing is that it's like a family. Everybody loves so much the Indy 500. They really care about it and they put so much effort. So it's the thing that I like the most, that it's a family. They've been doing the same thing. Well, Will has been doing it for the past 36 years, so that shows you the amount of amazing drivers that he's had the chance to encapsulate on that trophy.

Bruce Martin: Dario Franchitti, your mentor and a three-time Indianapolis 500 winner, four-time IndyCar Series champion, described you late this year as an artist. Well, now you're dealing with a true artist. Do you see a little bit of artistry in both of your jobs?

Alex Palou: I think every job has an art that you can refine to try and be a little bit better. I think the art that Will has, it's a hundred or a thousand times more than what I do, the amount of hours he puts in, the details, but at the end of the day, If you look back, it's the same, right? He's focusing on really small details that nobody would notice. But that's what makes the difference when he goes and does the work that he does. And it's the same for us as drivers. Everybody knows how to drive, then you get into professional racing and everybody knows how to drive fast, but it's all about those details that makes you separate from winning the race or not winning it. So yeah, I can see that there's some similarities in our work.

Bruce Martin: One of the things that's different about this year's BorgWarner Sculpting Session is you have a whole crew from Fox Sports here that is filming a feature on the process and on you. Katie Weigel is the producer of this thing. And when you arrived and saw Fox Sports is here and even Fox 59, the Fox affiliate in Indianapolis has made the trip down. What did you think?

Alex Palou: I think it shows a commitment. It shows the commitment that Fox has in IndyCar. The amount of investment that they've put in in our series has been tremendous and we've seen that since the beginning. We've seen that since the Super Bowl commercials earlier in the year and I know that there's a lot more coming. There's a lot in store and they are eager and willing to get us into the next level. And I think that's what we need. We need a partner that it's going to be involved as they are doing, and that it's going to show what IndyCar is and what it means. And days like today, or traditions like what we're doing today, is what makes this sport so special. So it's great that we have partners like Fox that showcase what we do.

Bruce Martin: I believe I asked you at the victory lap your thoughts when you saw on the schedule July 19th the lead-in to the IndyCar race on a Sunday night is going to be the World Cup Championship final. You being from Spain, is that going to put a little bit of pressure on you to be able to watch the World Cup Championship and get ready for an IndyCar race at the same time?

Alex Palou: Yeah, I mean soccer is very, very popular. I would say for sure it's our sport in Spain. I follow it a little bit. I wouldn't say I'm the biggest fan. Yeah, I mean, if Spain is in the final, of course, I'll have to keep an eye on that. But I think it's a great, another great opportunity for us to maybe show other fans that they don't know about IndyCar, to let them know that we're here and what our product is.

Bruce Martin: Did you play much soccer as a youth?

Alex Palou: Yes, I did, but I was not really good, honestly. I need to be honest, I was not one of those athletes that was really good at all sports. I was not good, so maybe that helped me put more effort into racing and forget about soccer. But yeah, I would say I was average. I was not very good.

Bruce Martin: Now, you're from Spain. Spain is far different than Mexico. And for a while, it looked like there may be an IndyCar Series race in Mexico City. It's not going to happen in 2026. Were you disappointed that that's not going to happen?

Alex Palou: Yes, everybody. I mean, it was a rumor that it was going to happen, and it's because we were really, really close. That was going to happen, but for some reasons it didn't happen. So, it's unfortunate, but at the same time, I'm very happy that we're trying. that I know it's gonna happen, I don't know if it's gonna be next year, I mean like 27 or 28, but it's gonna happen, so that's where we're heading. I know that if we go there, or when we go there, it's gonna be a huge hit, it's gonna be a hit for IndyCar and for Mexico, it's gonna be great, so yeah. I wouldn't say disappointed, but that was sad obviously, but yeah. I mean, as long as we keep on trying and we keep on trying to go to these new markets and expand the series, it's all good.

Bruce Martin: I was asked this question earlier today by the crew at Fox 59. All these great accomplishments that you've done, what's left for Alex Polo to achieve? And I said five Indy 500 victories, multiple championships. Do you think, though, at some point, You have to come up with new goals to challenge yourself?

Alex Palou: Not really, like for me Bruce, although looking at numbers and stats it's amazing and I am super proud and I never thought I would be able to say that I've won one Indy 500 or four IndyCar championships like that sounds like crazy to me but for me what motivates me or what pushes me is to wake up every day and still have the chance to work on myself and on the team on the car and try and go out on a new race weekend and try and beat everybody. That's what motivates me. And then I think these numbers are going to be amazing when I look back in like 15 years or 20 years when I retire and be like, wow, like we had an amazing run. So obviously I'll try everything that I have and I'll give everything that I have and that I can to win multiple Indy 500s and more championships. But Yeah, I don't need a big goal or a big number to stay motivated. For me, just showing up every single day and trying to be the best, be the fastest and win races, it's what motivates me.

Bruce Martin: Do you look back at the season and are you the slightest bit disappointed that at the end of the year was probably the longest stretch of races where you didn't win a race?

Alex Palou: Yeah, of course. We tried, we tried though. We were close, but yeah, I mean, we started the year super strong, like too strong. And at the end, we were still super strong, but we didn't win many races the last stretch. Man, we were pushing, we were trying, and I was just giving everything I had to try and win. And we were close, I think we finished in the last three races, we finished third, second, second, and it was like, ah, come on, we were so close, but at the same time, it's so hard to finish on the podium in IndyCar. So yeah, feels, as you said, in a way a little bit disappointed, but in another way, super proud.

Bruce Martin: You've raced against this individual quite a bit throughout your career, but next year he's going to be on a different team. What do you think of Will Power driving the 26 Honda now at Andretti Global?

Alex Palou: I love it. I cannot wait. I cannot wait. I think I love Will as a driver, as a person as well. I think he's a great part of what IndyCar is and I think he brings a lot of fans to our sport and he brings a lot to the series. But I think it's going to be good for him. It's going to be a new house, new challenges. Although we're not teammates, we're kind of in the same family with Honda, so I cannot wait to see what he can bring. I already chatted with him. As soon as it was official, I sent him a couple of messages and asked him a couple of questions to see if we can get some good ideas and some good help from him. So yeah, I cannot wait for him to try the car and then give some feedback to Honda and ready.

Bruce Martin: And is it going to be a little bit of a double take whenever you see the Verizon number 12 Chevrolet and look over and realize that's David Maloukis in that car?

Alex Palou: Yeah, I mean, as always, it's going to take a couple of times, like maybe a test day and the first race. But after that, I think it'll be normal to see Power and Ready and Maloukis on a Penske, I think. It's a great opportunity for both of them. One for Malukas to be at one of the best teams and stronger organizations and then for Will to have another new opportunity, new chapter that he's gonna take with lots of energy and he's gonna do very well.

Bruce Martin: IndyCar schedules in the past, they'd start the season, then have three weekends off, and then have a race, and then have two or three more weekends off. That's not going to happen in 2026. You're going to start off with three straight races, including a doubleheader with NASCAR at Phoenix, and it's going to be four races in the first five weeks. How big of a shock will that be to the routine in IndyCar? I know you'd race every weekend if you had the opportunity, But to a lot of the crew members and everybody, the way they prepare in the off-season, will that be a shock? Or how do you look at that scenario?

Alex Palou: In that way, it'll make it a little tougher, honestly. It'll make it tough going from zero. I mean, it's not that we don't work on the off-season, but you don't work on that schedule.

Bruce Martin: It's a different kind of work.

Alex Palou: Yeah, and you're not competing, so it'll be different to go from no competition for the last five, six months to suddenly competing for three weeks in a row, which is a month. So it'll be tough, but it'll be good. It'll be a good challenge for teams. I'm excited because that's gonna carry the momentum from the start of the season into the second and third race. And that's what we've been asking for. And that's what we got. So I like it.

Bruce Martin: The finale is going to switch back to Laguna Seca. I know that's been a very good track for you in the past. Do you look at 2026 and say, you know, the way this schedule plays out, if I get off to another fast start, we could be celebrating five championships at the end of the year?

Alex Palou: I wish, obviously. I think the calendar at the end of the day might benefit or not. I think now there's a better, let's say, organization. It's a bit more spread out, everything, so I think it's gonna make it more interesting. Yeah, I feel confident and I know that we can make it. So I'll do my best to try and get our fifth championship, get more wins. And man, I mean, if we can get four in a row, that would be huge.

Bruce Martin: But before that will be another Indianapolis 500, the 110th Indianapolis 500. Joseph Newgarten was the last driver to go back to back. I'm sure that's going to be on your mind. But there's going to be a lot of things that you're going to get to celebrate between now and Indy. The next thing, big thing coming up for BorgWarner is going to be having your face unveiled on the BorgWarner trophy. How excited are you to see it attached to the trophy?

Alex Palou: Oh yeah, that's what I'm most excited for now in the offseason, to see the face attached to that trophy and knowing that it's forever going to be there. That's crazy to me. I think… Yeah, winning, that's what winning championships makes you. It puts your name and it just keeps it there forever. But to have it in the trophy is going to be amazing to see.

Bruce Martin: And then after that is the baby Borg. That's the Borg Warner trophy that you actually get to take home and keep.

Alex Palou: Yeah.

Bruce Martin: So have you already found a place where you want to display it?

Alex Palou: Right there in my office, on the table, just so everybody that comes to my office can see it, which is normally just family and friends. But yeah, I mean, I cannot wait to have that baby Borg at home and hopefully to see it every day, every morning when I wake up.

Bruce Martin: And then after the baby Borg is given to you, then the final thing that you really get to celebrate will be the ticket. Everybody that has a ticket to the Indianapolis 500 next year, your face is gonna be on that ticket. I can think of a few good photos that they'll use, your celebration photos and everything. How big a deal is that for you to know that everybody that buys a ticket to the Indianapolis 500 is gonna be able to relive Alex Pillow's victory in 2025?

Alex Palou: It's huge. It's going to be like over 300,000 people getting my face on a ticket, either on the phone or just there on the ticket. So I cannot wait for that. And then also the face of the winner at the entry of the track. That's something that I've always seen it. I've seen the previous winners. So for me to see our face there, it's going to be very, very special.

Bruce Martin: And finally, you've probably looked forward to this day to be able to come to Tryon, North Carolina. Has it lived up to your expectations, the scenery and the setting?

Alex Palou: No, it exceeded my expectations, honestly. It's been wonderful weather, very sunny, perfect. But honestly, where we are at in seeing the workshop that Will has and the amount of tradition that there is here, the lovely town. I went and bought some groceries last morning, so it was good. I was having one of the best days ever, so yeah, it's a beautiful place.

Bruce Martin: And who knows, maybe you win a few more races and add to the bank account and you might buy some property down here.

Alex Palou: It might be a little getaway for Alex Pillow when he's in the United States. That's a good goal to have, absolutely. I love this place, so I know I could spend a lot of time here, for sure.

Bruce Martin: Well, Alex Pillow, the accolades are endless when it comes to what you were able to do in 2025. Once again, congratulations on winning the 109th Indianapolis 500. winning NTT IndyCar Series Championship, your third in a row, eight victories. I'm running out of time here, but go over all of your achievements in 2025. But most importantly, you've been a tremendous asset to PitPass Indy, and I want to thank you for that. You're one of the most cooperative drivers in the series, and I appreciate that very much. And I can even believe that I can consider you a friend.

Alex Palou: Absolutely.

Bruce Martin: Alex Pillow, once again, enjoy the moment, and thank you for joining us on Pit Pass Indy.

Alex Palou: Thank you, Bruce.

Bruce Martin: That puts a checkered flag on this edition of Pit Pass Indy. We want to thank our guest, Alex Pillow, the winner of the 109th Indianapolis 500. BorgWarner President and CEO Joseph Fadul, BorgWarner Global Director of Marketing and Communications Michelle Collins, Sculptor William Behrens, and Fox Sports Feature Producer Katie Weigel for joining us on today's podcast. Along with loyal listeners like you, our guests helped make Pit Pass Indy your path to victory lane in IndyCar. For more IndyCar coverage, follow me at X, previously known as Twitter, at BruceMartin, one word, uppercase B, uppercase M, underscore 500. This has been a production of Evergreen Podcast. A special thanks to our production team. Executive producers are Bridget Coyne and Gerardo Orlando. Recordings and edits were done by me, Bruce Martin, and final mixing was done by Sean Ruhle Hoffman and Nathan Corson. Learn more at evergreenpodcast.com. Until next time, be sure to keep it out of the wall.