This is why the Indy 500 winner receives a bottle of milk

Motorsports and traditions always go well together and the Indy 500 probably has the most traditions. One of the most special is that the winner always gets a bottle of milk after the race, but where did this tradition come from?

For the origin of getting milk after winning the Indy 500, we have to go back in time to the year 1933. Louis Meyer won his second Indy 500 that year and asked for a glass of buttermilk. Three years later he won the race again and again he asked for a glass of buttermilk. Instead of a glass, Meyer got a whole bottle this time.

At the time of drinking, Meyer was photographed with three fingers in the air to show that it was his third win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The marketing opportunity was spotted by a local dairy company.

The company came up with the idea of giving future winners a bottle of milk each year. From that year on, a bottle of milk was handed out every year except between 1947 and 1955.