The 33 drivers who will take part in this weekend’s Indianapolis 500 have made their respective choices on the milk they would like to drink in victory lane.
It is one of the most peculiar of traditions in the sporting world, but also one of the most coveted by the drivers who attempt the 500-mile race.
The tradition began in 1936 when Louis Mayer asked for a glass of buttermilk on the podium after winning his third Indy 500 due to his mother's encouragement on hot days.
In the years afterward the tradition fell away but returned in 1956 by the American Dairy Association who now currently pays a $10,000 purse to the winner if the drink the milk in victory lane.
There has been previous faux pas in the past regarding the drinking of the milk. In 1993, Emerson Fittipaldi decided to drink orange juice in order to promote his citrus farms in his native Brazil, much to the disproval of the fans.
Bobby Unser also failed to drink the milk in victory lane in 1981 after being handed a post-race penalty; Mario Andretti did so the following morning. However, Unser's victory was later reinstated upon review.
Now the field of the 33 drivers has been set, they have made their choices as to what they'd like to drink if they're the winners of the 2019 Indianapolis 500. Buttermilk isn't one of the choices much to the disappointment of James Hinchcliffe and Ed Carpenter.
Driver's choice of milk.
| # | Driver | Choice Of Milk |
| 1 | Simon Pagenaud | Whole Milk |
| 2 | Ed Carpenter | "The whole-est they have" (Wants Buttermilk) |
| 3 | Spencer Pigot | Whole Milk |
| 4 | Ed Jones | Whole Milk |
| 5 | Colton Herta (R) | Whole Milk |
| 6 | Will Power (W) | No Preference |
| 7 | Sebastien Bourdais | Two-Percent |
| 8 | Josef Newgarden | Whole Milk |
| 9 | Alexander Rossi (W) | Whole Milk |
| 10 | Marco Andretti | Whole Milk |
| 11 | Conor Daly | Whole Milk |
| 12 | Helio Castroneves (W) | Whole Milk |
| 13 | Marcus Ericsson (R) | Fat-Free |
| 14 | Takuma Sato (W) | Two-Percent |
| 15 | James Davison | Whole Milk |
| 16 | Tony Kanaan (W) | Two-Percent |
| 17 | Graham Rahal | Two-Percent |
| 18 | Scott Dixon (W) | Whole Milk |
| 19 | Oriol Servia | Two-Percent |
| 20 | Charlie Kimball | Whole Milk |
| 21 | JR Hildebrand | Whole Milk |
| 22 | Ryan Hunter-Reay (W) | Whole Milk |
| 23 | Santino Ferrucci (R) | Whole Milk |
| 24 | Matheus Leist | Two-Percent |
| 25 | Jack Harvey | Two-Percent |
| 26 | Jordan King (R) | Whole Milk |
| 27 | Ben Hanley (R) | Two-Percent |
| 28 | Zach Veach | Whole Milk |
| 29 | Felix Rosenqvist (R) | Two-Percent |
| 30 | Pippa Mann | Whole Milk |
| 31 | James Hinchcliffe | Whole Milk (Wishes for Buttermilk) |
| 32 | Sage Karem | Two-Percent |
| 33 | Kyle Kaiser | Whole Milk |
(R) – Denotes Indy 500 Rookie of the Year candidate; (W) – Denotes Indianapolis 500 winner
