The 2020 Indianapolis 500 is going to look significantly different this year compared with previous race days, particularly because of the empty grandstands and the fact that it was pushed back to August from May because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But plenty of details from one of the biggest motor sports events in the world will remain the same, including the celebratory bottle of milk the eventual Indy 500 winners drink and pour over their heads. Now, a bottle of milk after several hours of racing on a hot summer day might not sound terribly appealing, but at least the drivers get to enjoy their preferred variety of milk.
The American Dairy Association Indiana is in charge of delivering the milk to the driver after the Indy 500. And so it knows what type to bring out, it polls the drivers beforehand. The options are whole milk, two percent or fat-free, and here’s a look at what type of milk each 2020 Indy 500 driver selected this year.
As in previous years, whole milk is the top choice this time around, and the same goes for James Hinchcliffe and Ed Carpenter asking for the traditional buttermilk, even though that’s not an option. Also, gotta love that Tony Kanaan wants specifically “ice cold” milk if he wins his second Indy 500.
For The Win recently spoke to 2020 Indy 500 pole sitter Marco Andretti about his preferred milk choice, and he said:
“Whole milk. Originally, I said buttermilk because Louis Meyer did it, and then my friend gave me some. I’m not drinking that after a hot race. Man, it’s gross.”
Why buttermilk or milk at all? The tradition dates back to the 1936 Indy 500, and it actually started with buttermilk, as Indianapolis Motor Speedway explains:
Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Louis Meyer regularly drank buttermilk to refresh himself on a hot day and happened to drink some in Victory Lane as a matter of habit after winning the 1936 race. An executive with what was then the Milk Foundation was so elated when he saw the moment captured in a photograph in the sports section of his newspaper the following morning that he vowed to make sure it would be repeated in coming years. There was a period between 1947-55 when milk was apparently no longer offered, but the practice was revived in 1956 and has been a tradition ever since.
So here’s how it works: The designated “milk people” — yes, that’s what they’re actually called — from the American Dairy Association Indiana have three bottles, one for each milk choice, chilled and waiting in a cooler, which one of the milk people is handcuffed to. When the race is over, they consult the above list and grab the correct bottle for the winner to celebrate with.
The 104th running of the Indy 500 is Sunday, August 23 at 1 p.m. ET on NBC.
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