Tag: why do they drink milk at indy 500

Why does the Indy 500 winner drink milk?

A perfectly reasonable question.

This story was originally published in 2021 and has been updated.

Welcome to FTW Explains: a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. You may have heard that the Indy 500 winner celebrates with a bottle of milk and want to know why. We’re here to help. 

It’s a quirky but perfectly understandable question some people have about the Indianapolis 500: Why does the winner drink milk?

Simply, it’s tradition. And the Indy 500 is all about tradition.

After taking the checkered flag at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in one of the biggest motor sports races in the world, the winning driver is draped with a giant flowered wreath and handed a bottle of ice-cold milk. The winner typically takes a couple sips, poses for a few quick photos and then proceeds to dump the rest of the bottle on their head — sometimes pouring milk on others nearby.

Meet the true hero of the Indy 500’s bizarre celebratory tradition: The Veteran Milk Man

The whole process makes for some truly spectacular photos, but how and when did this odd tradition start? It’s largely thanks to Louis Meyer back in the 1930s.

Via Indianapolis Motor Speedway:

Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Louis Meyer regularly drank buttermilk to refresh himself on a hot day and happened to drink some in Victory Lane as a matter of habit after winning the 1936 race. An executive with what was then the Milk Foundation was so elated when he saw the moment captured in a photograph in the sports section of his newspaper the following morning that he vowed to make sure it would be repeated in coming years. There was a period between 1947-55 when milk was apparently no longer offered, but the practice was revived in 1956 and has been a tradition ever since.

So if a big bottle of milk on a typically warm or hot Indiana day after several hours of intense racing sounds unappealing, blame Meyer.

But although he drank buttermilk, that’s not one of the options for drivers anymore.

The American Dairy Association Indiana is in charge of delivering the bottle of milk to the winner, and before every Indy 500, it polls the drivers to see what their preferred celebratory milk choice would be. But the options are simple: Whole, 2 percent or fat free.

However, there’s usually a write-in or two on the survey with drivers sometimes hoping for chocolate, strawberry or even buttermilk.

When the race is over, the “milk people” — yes, that’s really what they’re called — consult the poll of drivers to see what bottle the winner wants. They then grab one of three bottles from a nearby cooler, and the milk tradition continues.

And what happens if the Indy 500-winning driver is lactose intolerant? For The Win asked legendary racer Mario Andretti about that in 2017, and he explained:

“It’s a tradition. Not everybody enjoys milk but just because it’s happening at that point and because it’s got that meaning, all of a sudden milk tastes very good, even if you’re lactose [intolerant].”

However, the American Dairy Association Indiana does have a secret lactose-free option, should a driver request that.

For the 2023 Indy 500, the majority of drivers selected whole milk, which is typical.

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2022 Indy 500: Every driver’s choice of celebratory milk — and who wants (but won’t get) chocolate or buttermilk

Most drivers keep it simple, but some want more than the three milk options offered.

It’s officially the month of May, and that means the 2022 Indianapolis 500 is right around the corner. One of the biggest motor sports events in the world has some grand traditions that go along with it — including a celebratory bottle of milk.

Nearly a century told, it’s tradition for the Indy 500 winners to celebrate the victory with a few sips from a bottle of milk before pouring it on their heads and subsequently splashing everyone else in their vicinity. And drivers get to choose what type of milk they hope to celebrate with, thanks to the The American Dairy Association Indiana.

The organization polls Indy 500 drivers to get their preferred milk choice, should they win “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” The options are simple — whole, 2 percent or fat-free milk — though many drivers (hilariously) would like a few more options. Jimmie Johnson already shared his completed poll, but now we have a look at everyone else’s preference.

The American Dairy Association Indiana — which is also in charge of delivering the correct bottle to the winner after the famous 500-mile race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — released the results of its 2022 milk poll Monday.

And yet again, whole milk remains the popular choice.

(The American Dairy Association Indiana)

Of the 32 drivers polled, as of May 2, 25 want whole milk, six want two-percent milk and one driver — Juan Pablo Montoya, who actually wants chocolate milk — officially has no preference. But Montoya isn’t alone in that request. Graham Rahal, Colton Herta and Devlin DeFrancesco also noted they’d like chocolate, but from the choices, opted for whole milk.

And some others wish the milk tradition really stuck with tradition, as Ed Carpenter and Felix Rosenqvist requested (most likely in vain) buttermilk.

Decades ago when the milk tradition began, it started with buttermilk and driver Louis Meyer. As Indianapolis Motor Speedway explains:

“Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Louis Meyer regularly drank buttermilk to refresh himself on a hot day and happened to drink some in Victory Lane as a matter of habit after winning the 1936 race. An executive with what was then the Milk Foundation was so elated when he saw the moment captured in a photograph in the sports section of his newspaper the following morning that he vowed to make sure it would be repeated in coming years. There was a period between 1947-55 when milk was apparently no longer offered, but the practice was revived in 1956 and has been a tradition ever since.”

Buttermilk is no longer an option, but after the Indy 500, the designated “milk people” from the American Dairy Association Indiana will pull one of three bottles — one for each milk option — from a chilled cooler, which one of the milk people is often handcuffed to.

And they deliver it to the winning driver for the iconic celebration.

The 106th Indy 500 is set for Sunday, May 29 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

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