The Indianapolis 500 has long had one of the weirdest traditions where the winner swigs a glass of milk.
Those who are brave enough douse themselves in it, making for a stinky post-race celebration.
It all began when Louis Meyer requested buttermilk after winning the 1936 running of the race, what he thought was a refreshing drink to quench his thirst after 200 laps of the 2.5-mile oval.
The Indiana Dairy Association takes the vote of every driver in the 33-car field and has a bottle on standby for the end of the race.
Buttermilk is no longer an option, but many drivers have tried in the past to get the tradition revived.
This year, 28 drivers selected whole milk while the other five selected two percent.
There was udder chaos when announcing this year’s milk selection when it was wrongly announced Takuma Sato had chosen whole milk, when he had in fact picked two percent.
“Two percent,” said Sato. “Just always has been.”
Not everyone will be drinking the milk if they make it to the top of the pylon by the end of the race. Santino Ferrucci and Robert Shwartzman are lactose intolerant.
“I’m lactose intolerant, so I asked for lactose-free milk,” said the pole position winner.
“I don’t care what percentage it is.”
Drivers are able to make special requests too.
“Two percent milk, my request – give me five bottles,” said Helio Castroneves.
Josef Newgarden said, “I’d like whole milk. It’s the only choice — and if it’s possible, I would like some hot chocolate chip cookies. Please.”
If series veteran Graham Rahal can finally win the Indianapolis 500 in his 19th start, he wants to make it a family affair.
“We’re going to go two percent,” he said. “And my only request is if I win to bring some for my kids.”
Ed Carpenter and Rinus Veekay asked for buttermilk.
Australian Will Power’s special request was for chocolate milk. Power and his Team Penske stablemate Scott McLaughlin both picked whole milk.
Kiwi duo Scott Dixon and Marcus Armstrong both picked whole milk.
The 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 gets underway on May 26 at 2:45am AEST with coverage in Australia live and exclusively on Stan Sport.
CORRECTION:
2️⃣8️⃣ drivers select whole milk.
5️⃣ drivers select 2%.
2️⃣ Indiana dairy farmers will deliver the milk.
A field of 3️⃣3️⃣ ready to carry on the tradition.🥛 #winnersdrinkmilk
🏁 #indy500@IMS @IndyCar @IndyCarOnFOX pic.twitter.com/xsoNDnMw9k— Indiana Dairy Assoc. (@INDairy) May 20, 2025
