Why does the Indianapolis 500 winner drink milk after?

Taking a look at why exactly the winner of the Indianapolis 500 drinks milk while on Victory Lane

When it comes to the Indianapolis 500, there is so much to love. What’s not exciting about watching cars dwarf 200 miles per hour on their odometer, make pinpoint maneuvers for hours on end, and even strategize to make it through 500 miles of racing against the best drivers in the world? It’s fantastic, but it’s also an event that’s entrenched in tradition.

For the pre-race ceremonies, things like the Indianapolis 500 parade and the singing of “(Back Home Again In) Indiana” are two of the greatest traditions in racing and all of sports. However, the greatest tradition in the Indianapolis 500 is after the race when a winner is crowned, heads to Victory Lane, and proceeds to chug his choice of milk.

Given how odd that is, though, that begs the question of why the winner of the race drinks milk of all things.

Well it so happens that, back in the 1930s, one of the best drivers at the time by the name of Louis Meyer had a habit of drinking buttermilk whenever he needed to cool off, regardless of where he’s at. So after his win (one of three in his career) at the Indianapolis 500 in 1936, he enjoyed his beverage of choice.

With milk executives excited by the mainstream exposure, they looked to capitalize on Meyer’s beverage of choice and tried to work it into every race. Though it took a hiatus for a few years after 1936, the winner drinking milk has been a tradition for 60 years now with it coming back in 1956.

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