Today’s question: Alex Palou’s first image on the Borg-Warner Trophy will be unveiled Nov. 19 in Indianapolis. The sterling silver, bas relief image of which driver who didn’t win the Indianapolis 500 would you most like to have seen on this iconic trophy?

Curt Cavin: I have a selection for those who have raced in the “500” and one who hasn’t, and I’ll start with the latter. Alex Zanardi would have been a popular Indy winner with his overall talent and infectious personality. He has the most INDYCAR SERIES race wins for a driver who never competed in the “500” – he had 15, including an oval win at Michigan – and he won series titles in 1997 and ’98 in convincing fashion. Michael Andretti (photo, top) is my other choice. He is the event’s lap leader among non-winners – 431 laps in 16 starts – and deserved the victory in 1992. The fact that his brother and father were badly injured when his car failed him in that race made the heartbreak even more painful. Don’t forget that Michael also had five top-five Indy finishes in a career that started in 1984 and ended in 2007.

Jimmie Johnson

Eric Smith: For me, that driver is Jimmie Johnson (photo, above, front). He has won nearly everything there is to win in American motorsports with one notable exception: the Indianapolis 500. Daytona 500? Check. Southern 500? Check. Coca-Cola 600? Check. He’s tied with Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty with seven NASCAR Cup Series championships. He even added Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors in 2022. The Indy 500 was a childhood dream for the California native, and after 20 full-time seasons in the Cup Series, he finally chose to chase it.

Greg Moore

Arni Sribhen: My choice never had a chance to race in the Indianapolis 500 as he entered the sport just as it was splitting into two rival series and was tragically lost before it came back together. But in his all too brief INDYCAR SERIES career, one thing was clear: Greg Moore (photo, above, lower) was really good on ovals. Four of the Canadian’s five INDYCAR SERIES wins came on ovals – Milwaukee, Michigan (US 500), Rio and Homestead – and his talent was enough that he was going to join Team Penske for the 2000 season and beyond. That The Captain brought Helio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran to the Indianapolis 500 and eventually the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and won the “500” three times in its return to Indianapolis leaves us all to wonder not if Greg Moore would have been on the Borg-Warner Trophy. But how many times would he have been?

Ted Horn

Paul Kelly: Ted Horn. Newer fans of the Indianapolis 500 and NTT INDYCAR SERIES may respond with, “Who?” I get it. Horn’s “500” career consisted of 10 starts from 1935-48, running at Indy every year during that span except for the hiatus from 1942-45 due to World War II. And there probably never was a driver with better results at Indy without a win than the Ohio native (photo, above). He placed an inconspicuous 16th as a rookie in 1935, fighting a flaw in the design of the steering in his Miller Ford V8. But then Horn went on one of the greatest runs in Indianapolis 500 history. He finished no worse than fourth in nine consecutive starts from 1936 to 1948, including second in 1936 after moving to Harry Hartz’s team. He won the pole in 1947 and started in the first two rows five times. Horn also won three consecutive INDYCAR SERIES titles from 1946-48 before he lost his life in a racing accident in October 1948 at DuQuoin, Illinois. When the list of the greatest drivers never to win the “500” is made, Ted Horn should be near or at the top of the list.