The Indianapolis 500 is often called ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,’ and there are many things that it is famous for. However, if there is one thing, or rather tradition, that truly stands out, it is chugging a bottle of milk in Victory Lane.

While most forms of motorsport celebrate with a bottle of champagne, the Indy 500 takes a completely different route. But how exactly did this begin? We have to travel back to 1936 for the answer.

Having just won his third Indy 500, Louis Meyer had just made history. The day was quite warm, and he had spent around four hours behind the wheel, so naturally, he was exhausted. He then asked for a glass of buttermilk to help cool him down. His mother encouraged him to drink buttermilk from a young age.

Even as Meyer would continue to drink buttermilk in his later wins, the tradition disappeared soon afterward, as the Indy 500 was interrupted during that time.

However, when the Indianapolis 500 came back in 1945, the bottle of milk was replaced by ‘Water From Wilbur.’ This was introduced by Wilbur Shaw, another former three-time champion and the President of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at that time.

Water From Wilbur was basically a silver jug filled with ice-cold water, meant to mimic an ice bucket. For the next 10 years, winners did not drink milk, but cold water.

The milk bottle was eventually brought back in 1956, nearly two years after Shaw’s untimely demise in an airplane crash. According to the IMS website, “The winner received USD 400 for drinking milk, and his chief mechanic was awarded an additional USD 50.”

Since then, the milk bottle has stayed for good. However, there were two incidents where the winners deviated from tradition.

Times When Indy 500 Winners Refused to Drink Milk

The 1981 Indianapolis 500 was marred by controversy in its final stages. The winner, Bobby Unser, was stripped of his victory the next day for passing other cars during a caution flag. However, fans were already booing him in Victory Lane for refusing to drink milk.

Then, in 1993, Emerson Fittipaldi drank orange juice instead of milk in order to promote the citrus industry, as he owned several citrus farms in Brazil. At the insistence of team owner Roger Penske, he finally drank milk, but the damage was done, as he faced severe backlash during the driver introductions of his next race.

It is a tradition for Indy 500 winners to drink milk. Today, drivers can choose from various types of milk as per their preference.

At the 2026 grid, whole milk appears to be a hot favorite, with the likes of Ed Carpenter, Scott Dixon, Alex Palou, Katherine Legge, Mick Schumacher, and many others choosing it. While a smaller group of drivers has chosen 2% milk, Romain Grosjean stands out as the sole candidate for skim milk.

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Written by

Aaradhya Singh

Edited by

Pulkit Prabhav