WINNERS ALWAYS MILK IT

The Indianapolis 500 is packed with enduring traditions, and perhaps the most famous is the celebratory drink offered in Victory Lane. Forget champagne: winners here get a bottle of milk.

The tradition was accidentally sparked by Louis Meyer, who asked for a glass of buttermilk to cool down after his victories in 1933 and 1936. Seeing a photo in a newspaper and mistaking Meyer’s drink for milk, a local dairy company started providing the race winner with a bottle of milk.

The Indiana Dairy Association now offers drivers a choice of skimmed, semi-skimmed or whole milk – and Jack Harvey reckons that it wouldn’t be a tough decision to make. “That’s easy: whole milk, no messing about,” he says.

Mind you, it’s not always such a simple choice. Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi sparked a diplomatic incident in 1993 when he spurned milk for a glass of orange juice to promote the grove he owned. When he appeared at the 100th Indy 500 in 2016, he was still jeered by a section of the crowd.