Skip to main content
SI

Why Every Indy 500 Winner—Including Felix Rosenqvist—Always Celebrates With Milk

Got milk? The Indy 500 winner always does. Here’s why.
Tom Dierberger|
Felix Rosenqvist celebrates winning the 2026 Indy 500 with a cold bottle of milk.
Felix Rosenqvist celebrates winning the 2026 Indy 500 with a cold bottle of milk. | Fox Sports

Got milk?

The Indy 500 winner always does.

The checkered flag dropped Sunday afternoon in the 110th edition of the Indy 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This year, Fever superstar Caitlin Clark served as the Indy 500 grand marshal and took the microphone to usher drivers to their cars ahead of the race. Indiana head football coach Curt Cignetti did the honors of driving the Indy 500 pace car.

But Clark, Cignetti and even the 33 drivers aren’t the biggest star of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” That honor arguably belongs to the cold bottle of milk waiting for the driver who crosses the finish line first, one of the Indy 500’s most treasured traditions.

But ... why do the winners celebrate with milk?

The Indy 500’s milk tradition started back in 1936

Ninety years ago, Louis Meyer—the first three-time Indy 500 winner in the event’s history—started the dairy-infused tradition when he requested a cold bottle of buttermilk after winning the 1936 event. He did so because his mother told him that buttermilk is the perfect drink to combat a hot day.

According to Indy 500’s official website, Meyer did claim he drank milk after his win in 1933 as well. But there was no photographic evidence of that, so 1936 is when racing fans believe the milk tradition truly started.

Following Meyer’s request, an executive in the dairy business made sure the winner of the Indy 500 celebrated with a bottle of milk. The tradition was paused from 1942 to ’46 due to World War II and again for a few years in the late ’40s and early ’50s, but it returned again in ’56 for good.

Every racer gets their choice of milk

Leading up to the race, all 33 IndyCar racers get to choose which type of milk they’d like to party with if they end up winning the event. The drivers get to choose between whole milk, 2% milk and skim milk.

This year, 25 of the 33 drivers opted for whole milk—which was the choice by the event’s last four winners. Seven drivers—Helio Castroneves, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Christian Lundgaard, Pato O’Ward, Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato and Nola Siegel—chose 2% milk. Only one driver, Romain Grosjean, opted for skim milk.

The last driver to win the Indy 500 with a 2% milk choice was Castroneves back in 2021.

Felix Rosenqvist earns his cold bottle of milk

The winner of the 110th edition of the Indy 500? Felix Rosenqvist.

Rosenqvist, the third Swedish-born driver to win the Indy 500, edged David Malukas in the closing seconds for the closest finish in the event’s history. It’s been an incredible month for Rosenqvist, who welcomed his first-born child, Stella, two weeks ago with his wife, Emille.

“I don’t even know what to say. What a car,” Rosenqvist said on the Fox broadcast after winning the race. “I still don’t believe it. This whole month—becoming a dad and then winning the 500. We joked about it at the beginning. Oh, maybe you’ll win the 500 and have a baby. It’s just unreal.”

Rosenqvist, of course, celebrated with a bottle of whole milk following his win.

More from Sports Illustrated

Add us as a preferred source on Google
Published | Modified
Tom Dierberger
TOM DIERBERGER

Tom Dierberger is the Deputy News Director at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in November 2023 after stints at FOX Sports, Bally Sports and NBC Sports. Dierberger has a bachelor’s in communication from St. John’s University. In his spare time, he can be seen throwing out his arm while playing fetch with his dog, Walter B. Boy.

Home/Racing