Andretti's Kyle Kirkwood explains the birth of Indy 500's iconic milk tradition

2025 Long Beach GP winner Kyle Kirkwood came out ahead of the upcoming races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and explained why a bottle of milk is offered as the celebratory drink to the Indy 500 winner. The Andretti Global driver reflected on and detailed the birth of the milk tradition.

The Indy 500 weekend is only a couple of weeks away, with the remainder of May dedicated to the races at the IMS. While it's often spotted that drivers celebrate their race wins and podiums with champagne during the post-race ceremony, the same is not the case with the Indy 500.

The Indy 500 is arguably the most iconic and the oldest race that is still held to date. Over the last century, many traditions have come along and have been adopted by the race venue. These include kissing the bricks at the 2.5-mile oval after the win and drinking milk during the celebration instead of the champagne.

AUTO: AUG 17 NTT IndyCar Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500 - Source: Getty

“The Big Spill”, i.e., a huge sculpture of a milk bottle with spilled milk, has been touring across the US in the lead up to the Indy 500. As the same reached the FOX5 Atlanta studio, Kyle Kirkwood was questioned by the media house about the milk tradition and its significance.

“For people that don't know what milk means to the Indy 500, it started as a tradition in, I believe, 1936, where somebody asked for buttermilk after a race. Now, it's turned into a tradition that you always get milk after a race. It's not buttermilk, because buttermilk was processed much differently — now you get whole, 2%, skim -- you kind of have that choice before you go into the race, and then they'll bring it out to you at the end,” said Kyle Kirkwood.

Louis Meyer, after winning the 1936 Indy 500, asked for a glass of buttermilk to beat the heat. A couple of decades later, in 1956, the dairy industry became involved as a sponsor for the iconic race, and eventually, drinking milk became a tradition.

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“Let's get ourselves to Indianapolis”: Kyle Kirkwood looks forward to Indy 500 and IMS road course race after disappointment at Barber

Kyle Kirkwood went into the Alabama Indy Grand Prix as the previous race winner and with momentum on his side. However, the weekend didn't go to plan for the Andretti Global driver who qualified P18. Kirkwood made up ground in the race, but was unable to finish inside the Top 10 at the Barber Motorsports Park. As he finished P11, he took to Instagram and uploaded a post reflecting on the race day with the caption:

“Not a great weekend, but could have been worse. Now let's get ourselves to Indianapolis STAT. #INDYCAR / #ThisisMay”

Up next on the IndyCar calendar is the Sonsio Grand Prix at the IMS road course. It will be held on May 10 and will be followed up by the Greatest Spectacle in Racing on Sunday, May 25.