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Every race in the NASCAR schedule has their own trophy to
award the race winner. Each award has its own history and meaning. While the
Ford Championship Weekend trophy design is relatively new, it is not without its own
history. Ford and Homestead-Miami Speedway collaborated on the trophy design
for all three Ford Championship Weekend races for the first time in 2014. The trophy
consists of a brass steering wheel mounted on top of a wooden base, making it a
total of 27 inches tall, while the steering wheel measures 14.5 inches in
diameter. Fixed on the base is an engraving of Henry Ford and mechanic, Ed
“Spider” Huff. Bruce Fox produced the approximately 50 pound trophies in New Albany,
Indiana.
While it may look like an ordinary steering wheel, the top
of the trophy is an exact replica of the steering wheel from the 1901 race car,
Sweepstakes. Sweepstakes is the car that Henry Ford built, raced and won with on
October 10, 1901 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Ford’s victory over established
racer, Alexander Winton, was Ford’s first and final race. Ford used the race
win as leverage for gaining investors in his second attempt at forming an
automobile company. Utilizing his ideas, knowledge of the industry and
investors’ funds, Ford went on to establish the Ford Motor Company in June 1903.
