The tradition dates back to 1936 when Louis Meyer requested buttermilk after his win, and it’s been the norm ever since.
The honour is extended to the team owner and chief mechanic who get to join the winning driver in Victory Lane.
Each and every year, the 33 drivers make their milk selection – with options of whole, two percent, or skim.
The original buttermilk option was eventually phased out despite some drivers still requesting it to this day.
The Indiana Dairy Association takes the vote of every driver and has bottles on standby for the end of the race.
This year, 25 drivers selected whole milk, seven drivers chose two percent, while Romain Grosjean was the only driver to pick skim.
Those who chose two percent were four-time winner Helio Castroneves, two-time winner Takuma Sato, his teammate Graham Rahal, 2014 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay, and McLaren trio Pato O’Ward, Christian Lundgaard, and Nolan Siegel.
Some VERY special requests 😂 🥛
The @INDairy #Indy500 milk selections are in! pic.twitter.com/iQYE3NneYT
— Indianapolis Motor Speedway (@IMS) May 19, 2026
Making the milk selection isn’t the only dairy-related tradition.
A decade ago, Alexander Rossi milked a cow and went on to win the 2016 Indianapolis 500 as a rookie.
Since then, it has been tradition for rookies to milk a cow in the lead-up to the Greatest Spectacle in Racing as something of a good luck charm.
Four rookies are in this year’s race – Mick Schumacher, Caio Collet, Dennis Hauger, and Jacob Abel.
“It’s so fun to see them actually milk it,” Indiana Dairy Association veteran milk presenter Ashley Stockwell said.
“A lot of them never have milked a cow before. To them, it’s good luck, right. For this year, if you don’t milk the cow you’re destined to not win.
“To have them get excited about the tradition of milking the cow and then learning all about the milk and what our hard work does to produce and feed the world and they get to celebrate with is really an honour.”
Schumacher, who inherited the honour of being the highest-starting rookie after Caio Collet was disqualified from qualifying, said he respected the Indianapolis 500 traditions.
“I’m excited to experience all the traditions that are out here,” Schumacher said.
“I think there are a lot of them. In some ways it’s great to keep them in the way they are and to experience them year after year. Yeah, very privileged.
“Obviously in this event, I’ve noticed how beautiful traditions can be.
“I know that some drivers have certain traditions. I mean, like Conor Daly going to the Snake Pit every year.
“It’s pretty impressive how still the drivers build their own traditions out here. I’m curious to see what mine will be, when I come back here, what I’ll be doing again and what not.
“Obviously the golf course is super close. I really enjoy that. I think that that could be my tradition to go golfing at some point. Yeah, maybe riding a bike out on the track.”
The Indianapolis 500 takes place on Monday, May 25 with coverage live and exclusively on Stan Sport in Australia.
Indianapolis 500 – How to watch, schedule, starting grid & more
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