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The winner of the upcoming 109. The Indianapolis 500 gets an icy bottle of milk in Victory Circle on Sunday at Indianapoli Motor Speedway.
But why milk? When did the tradition begin?
The origin of tradition was in 1936 when Louis Meyer, after winning his third Indy 500, sat on his car and had a bottle of flesh milk in his left hand.
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Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden drinks milk on the victory podium after winning the 108th Indianapolis 500 on Indianapoli Motor Speedway on May 26, 2024. (IMagn)
But tradition began with an accident. Meyer, who drinks the milk after the Vick, was not planned.
“It was a hot day. I came into the garage area … and all I could think of was some lovely, cold meat milk,” said Meyer, pr. Indianapolis Motor Speedway Web site.
Meyer grew up in Yonkers, New York, and his mother told him that meat milk would update him on a hot day. So after a violent race, Meyer wanted the drink he had grown up: Meat Milk.
The milk stuck because Meyer’s moment with the milk was caught by a cameraman. A director of the dairy industry saw the recordings of Meyer and requested that milk be given to any winner of Indianapolis 500.
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Milk bottles for 2025 Indy 500 are signed by drivers Devlin DeFrancesco, Louis Foster and Felix Rosenqvist while mailing the famous blue envelopes with tickets to Indianapolis 500 on March 12, 2025. (IMagn)
Each winner from 1938 to 1941, and then after the race returned from a hiatus due to World War II in 1946, drank milk in the victory circle.
However, there was a time when milk was not the drink that was handed over to winners. Wilbur Shaw, who won the Indy 500 in 1937, 1939 and 1940, became president of Indianapoli’s Motor Speedway and implemented some changes.
From 1947 to 1954, the winners of the iconic race were handed over cold water in a silver van. However, the tradition did not last when Shaw died in a plane crash in 1954, and in 1956 the milk returned.
Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden drinks his milk after winning the Indy 500 on May 26, 2024. (IMagn)
But the milk returned as an accessory price when the winners were offered $ 400 to drink the milk.
Since then, 69 consecutive winners of the race and 76 total winners have enjoyed milk in Victory Circle.
Indy 500 will be released on May 25 at Fox with coverage, which starts at 1 p.m. 10 et. It will also be available for Stream Live at FoxSports.com and the Fox Sports app.
