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For nearly three grueling hours, drivers competing in the Indianapolis 500 endure sitting in a tiny cockpit with temperatures up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
They travel at speeds in excess of 230 miles per hour.
But when the checkered flag drops at The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, the winner doesn’t celebrate by spraying a base vintage of French champagne, as a competitor might in Formula 1.
Instead, they get out of their car, covered in sweat and dirt, and eagerly grab an ice-cold glass bottle of American dairy milk.
It is undoubtedly the most recognizable – and perhaps most curious – tradition in motorsport.
Learn more about how a simple craving for running turned into a decades-long tradition, backed by hundreds of local farmers and a lot of wasted dairy.
1. It started by accident with a thirsty, three-time champion
Louis Meyer, a 23-year-old Californian, in his Miller Special after winning the 16th annual 500-mile auto race at Indianapolis Speedway.
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 manager saw a photo of Meyer chugging the drink in the next day’s paper, recognized a golden marketing opportunity and vowed to make milk a permanent fixture.
2. World War II and “Water from Wilbur” force temporary hiatus
1940 Indy 500 race car winner Wilbur Shaw is seen drinking milk during the traditional Brickyard ceremony.
While milk was given out sporadically after Meyer’s victory in 1936, the tradition took a break during World War II when the race was discontinued.
When racing resumed, then-Speedway president and three-time winner Wilbur Shaw chose to give the winners 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 cash bonus of $400 to the winner and $50 to their chief mechanic.
3. Nearly 700 local dairy farmers make it happen every year
A bottle of milk rests on the brick patio next to the engraved faces of past Indianapolis 500 winners displayed on the Borg-Warner Trophy.
The milk given to the winner is not just picked up from a local grocery store shelf in the morning. It is provided by the American Dairy Association Indiana, an organization representing nearly 700 dairy farmers across the state.
Each year, two designated Indiana dairy farmers are selected as the official Milk People. Their responsibilities include tending the bottles and hand-delivering the ice-cold prize directly to the winning driver in the Winner’s Circle.
4. Drivers can choose full, 2 percent or skim. Sweet milk dominates
Josef Newgarden celebrated by pouring milk on his head after winning the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
Since 2006, the American Dairy Association Indiana has conducted an official pre-race preference survey asking all 33 drivers to maintain their choice of whole milk, 2 percent or skim milk.
Sweetened milk remains the overwhelmingly popular choice. And it’s not just for the taste. That’s because it looks much better and thicker in pictures.
In fact, current stars like Alex Palou are purists about it, with Palou once saying, “The Indy 500 is about tradition, and I don’t think you can go with half measures…Sweet milk it is. If there was double whole milk, I’d just have it.”
[INDY 500: All 33 Indy 500 Drivers’ Celebratory Milk Choice If They Win In 2026]
5. No, buttermilk is no longer on the menu
Jacques Villeneuve with a bottle of milk in hand during his celebration.
Despite being the exact beverage 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 motorists might try to put it on their ballots, officials won’t give them a bottle of it today because it simply wouldn’t taste that good.
6. Winners sip it, pour it and sometimes even color it
Hélio Castroneves from Brazil added a touch of color to his milk bottle back in 2021.
While the primary goal is to take a massive sip for the cameras, modern winners love to pour the rest of the glass bottle completely over their heads.
Some drivers get even more creative. In 2021, four-time winner Hélio 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.
7. Even non-milk drinkers say it’s ‘the best drink ever’
Alex Palou drank the milk after winning his first Indy 500 in 2025.
You might think that chugging dairy after driving in a cockpit for three hours doesn’t sound appealing, but drivers absolutely love it.
Even those who don’t normally drink milk admit that the story behind the tradition makes it taste that much better.
As defending Indy 500 champion Alex Palou put it after the 2025 race, “I’m not a huge whole milk guy, kind of just regular milk. But it tastes great. I loved it.
“It was super sweet. It just felt amazing. It was the best drink ever.”
