INDIANAPOLIS -- The most important list next to the starting grid on Indy 500 race day: What kind of milk does each driver prefer if they win?
Here's this year's list:
Like most things at the Indy 500, it's a tradition, and there's an interesting story behind it.
Drinking milk all started when Louis Meyer cooled off with a glass of buttermilk after he won his third 500 in 1936. As the story goes, a dairy exec saw a picture of him in the paper and realized he was looking at a pretty big marketing opportunity.
So from then on, minus a brief hiatus from 1947 to 1955, every Indy 500 winner has been presented with milk after the race.
This choice of milk preference is important, since by now giving the milk a pass is not an option. Emerson Fittipaldi drank orange juice instead in 1993 and fans booed him at the track, though he did later take a swig of milk.
Downing a bottle of milk is just one of the traditions the race winner gets to take part in. The winner also gets his or her face in 3-D on the Borg-Warner Trophy, and gets a chance to kiss the 106-year-old bricks marking the finish line.
So that's why the winner will be guzzling dairy on Sunday afternoon. And you won't find any drivers complaining about it.
"After 500 miles, you're really happy, you're celebrating, and you're kind of thirsty. That milk drinks awesome," three-time Indy 500 winner Hélio Castroneves said. "It tastes just like champagne."
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