Fans of motorsports may be used to seeing champagne sprayed in celebration by drivers on the podium, but for the Indy500 a different drink is used - milk.
Drivers race 200 laps around the 2.5 mile oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend, climb out of the car hot, sweaty and exhausted from the trials and tribulations of the race, and are offered a bottle of milk to cool down and quench their thirst.
It may seem strange, but it dates back to 1936, after the 24th edition of the race. Though it only became a consistent feature in 1956 and has been tradition ever since.
All the way back in 1936, Louis Meyer became the first man to win the Indy500 three times, etching his name in the sport's history.
It is not only this that is fondly remembered however, as he sat atop his car in the winners enclosure holding three fingers aloft, a confused and surprised announcer could be heard.
Somebody has given him a bottle of milk! I suppose that race would make anyone thirsty!
The bewilderment in his voice was also mirrored on the faces of the crowd, as a simple bottle of buttermilk would create more history than a hattrick of Indianapolis 500 wins.
Meyer's mother often gave him buttermilk when he was a child in New York, claiming it was the most refreshing thing to drink on a hot day. Something that stayed with him into his adult life.
He was confused at the reaction to his drink of choice, claiming to have opted for the same when he won the race three years prior, but with no photographic evidence it is hard to prove or disprove this. Though neither Bill Cummings in 1934 or Kelly Petillo in 1935 drank milk after their victories.
So how did the milk become tradition after the 1936 race?
As the story goes, a dairy industry executive saw the footage of Meyer's celebrations and had a bright idea.
They requested milk to be made readily available to the winner of the 'Greatest Spectacle in Racing' every year, and thus every winner from 1938 to 1946 drank a bottle of milk in the victory circle.
Then, from 1947 until 1954, winners received cold water in a chalice engraved with 'Water from Wilbur', in homage to the president and general manager of Indiana Motor Speedway (and a three time winner of the Indy500 himself).
Dairy executives flexed their muscles once again and in 1956 the milk returned, with drivers even offered a choice of the type of milk and $400 to be seen drinking it.
Coincidentally, the 1956 race was won by Pat Flaherty, who was a keen milk drinker due to his calcium deficiency.
I definitely think milk is the coolest and most well known (prize). It has to be the coolest trophy in all of sports.
Somehow, there has even been milk related controversy!
Emerson Fittipaldi refused a bottle of milk in 1993, famously drinking orange juice instead, promoting his Brazilian citrus groves.
The crowd went wild, booing the iconic two-time Indy500 and two-time F1 World Championship winner and creating such a negative atmosphere that he would go on to forfeit $5,000 of prize money and publicly apologize to the American Dairy Association.
The Brazilian was even booed in 2008 when he returned to drive the pace car in that year's 500!
The old adage was born.
At Indy, the winner drinks milk.
An udderly bonkers tradition!
Milk choices of Indy500 winners
Year | Indy500 Winner | Milk Chosen |
2023 | Josef Newgarden | Whole Milk |
2021 | Helio Castroneves | Two-percent |
2011 | Dan Wheldon | Fat-free |
