7 Things To Know About The Indy 500 Milk Tradition

For nearly three grueling hours, drivers competing in the Indianapolis 500 endure sitting in a tiny cockpit with temperatures climbing up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. 

They’re racing at speeds topping 230 mph. 

Yet, when the checkered flag drops at “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” the winner doesnt celebrate by spraying a baseline vintage of French champagne like a competitor might do in Formula 1. 

Instead, they climb out of their car, covered in sweat and grime and eagerly grab an ice-cold glass bottle of American dairy milk.

It is arguably the most recognizable — and perhaps, most curious — tradition in motorsports. 

Learn more about how a simple post-race craving evolved into a decades-long tradition, backed by hundreds of local farmers and a lot of spilled dairy.

The legendary tradition was sparked by driver Louis Meyer after his third Indy 500 win in 1936. 

Exhausted and thirsty after driving 500 miles, Meyer asked for a cold bottle of buttermilk — a refreshing drink his mother appreciated.

A local dairy executive spotted a photo of Meyer chugging the beverage in the next day’s newspaper, recognized a golden marketing opportunity and vowed to make milk a permanent fixture.

While milk was handed out sporadically after Meyer’s 1936 victory, the tradition paused during World War II when the race was suspended. 

When racing resumed, then-Speedway president and three-time winner Wilbur Shaw opted to hand the victors a silver cup of cold water instead, a brief era known as “Water from Wilbur.”

The dairy industry officially reclaimed its territory in 1956 — two years after Shaw’s passing — by offering a $400 cash bonus to the winner and $50 to their chief mechanic.

The milk handed to the winner isn’t just grabbed from a local grocery store shelf on race morning. It is provided by the American Dairy Association Indiana, an organization representing nearly 700 dairy farmers across the state. 

Every year, two designated Indiana dairy farmers are selected as the official Milk People. Their responsibilities include looking after the bottles and hand-delivering the ice-cold prize directly to the winning driver in Winner’s Circle.

Since 2006, the American Dairy Association Indiana has conducted an official pre-race preference poll asking all 33 drivers to lock in their choice of whole, 2 percent or skim milk. 

Whole milk remains the overwhelmingly popular choice. And that’s not just for the taste. It’s because it looks much better and thicker in photos. 

In fact, current stars like Alex Palou are purists about it, with Palou once saying, “The Indy 500 is about traditions and I do not think you can go with half measures… Whole milk it is. If there were double whole milk, I would just get that.”

Despite being the exact drink that Louis Meyer used to kickstart the whole phenomenon, buttermilk was taken off the official ballot in the mid-1990s. 

Modern buttermilk has evolved into a cultured baking ingredient rather than the sweet, rich byproduct of churned butter that Meyer drank. 

While a few nostalgic drivers might try to write it in on their ballots, officials won’t hand them a bottle of it today because it simply wouldn’t taste as good.

While the primary goal is to take a massive gulp for the cameras, modern winners love to pour the remainder of the glass bottle entirely over their heads. 

Some drivers get even more creative. In 2021, four-time winner Helio Castroneves secretly dumped a packet of strawberry powder into his bottle. 

Castroneves wanted pink milk to match his pink race car, creating one of the most colorful celebrations in the track’s history.

You might think chugging dairy after driving inside a cockpit for three hours doesn’t sound appealing, but drivers absolutely crave it. 

Even those who don’t usually drink milk admit the history behind the tradition makes it taste that much better. 

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