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The Indianapolis 500 Champion of Champions ring for 2016. [Allan Brewer Photo]

The Indianapolis 500 Champion of Champions ring for 2016. [Allan Brewer Photo]

by Allan Brewer

It has a certain ring to it.

The Indianapolis 500 champion gets a whole lot of cool stuff for crossing the bricks first on Memorial Day: the pace car becomes his (or hers), a big trophy goes in his lap for pictures, and a Brinks truck backs up to his house and starts unloading money like it is going out of style.

Plus, the champ and his crew get something better than a belt: a ring.

Ken Keltner of Herff Jones ringmakers brought the replica Indy 500 Championship ring to the Speedway on Sunday and showed it off to onlookers on a bright sunny day almost as brilliant as his diamonds.

The Champion of Champions ring for 2016 was redesigned with over 30 diamonds circling an engraved “Indianapolis Motor Speedway” One Hundredth Running logo. On one side of the ring is the date, on the other is the owner’s name above two crossed checkered flags.

The rings can be made in various metals: stainless steel, extreme silver, 10 karat or 14 karat gold (yellow or white), with a choice of 1.56 carat cubic zirconia or diamonds.

The diamond rings vary in price from $4,920 to $9,000. For cost conscious race fans, the cubic zirconia models range in price from $760 to $4,841.

According to Keltner there will be only 500 of the replica rings available to the public. Each is certified authentic as a piece of Indianapolis 500 history. There’s also an identical design on a pendant for the ladies whose hands are already full of bling.

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