How did the tradition of the winner to drink milk at the Indy 500 get started?!
How did the tradition of the winner to drink milk at the Indy 500 get started?
Answers:
Three time winner, Louis Meyer drank buttermilk to refresh himself on a hot day, and happened to drink some in Victory Lane after winning the 1936 race. An executive with the Milk Foundation was happy seeing a picture in the newspaper, that he vowed to make it happen again.
Milk wasn't offered between 1947 and 1955, but when it was revived in 1956, it was made a tradition. Even the drivers that don't like milk take a swig after winning.
I think it started as an advertising thing. The Milk advertisers paid the winner to drink milk. Maybe during the whole milk mustache campaign. At least that's what I think.
They ran out of beer and that was the only thing for the winner to drink after the race.