What milk did each Indianapolis 500 starter choose?
SPEEDWAY, IN. — The sweetest drink of milk in the whole world is arguably the small sip and bath of milk after winning the Indianapolis 500.
Before the 500, each driver chooses what type of milk they’d want in victory lane – so what did this year’s starters choose?
According to the Indiana Dairy Association, 28 of the 33 starters chose whole milk this year. That’s up from 2013 when just eight starters chose whole milk.
Former winners Helio Castroneves and Takuma Sato and rookie Benjamin Pederson each chose 2% milk. Meanwhile, Romain Grosjean and Katherine Legge chose fat-free milk.
Grosjean and Legge are the first drivers to choose fat-free milk since Conor Daly in 2020 (For what it’s worth, Daly chose whole milk this year).
A study by The Grueling Truth also found drivers preferring fat-free milk are winless in the Indy 500 since at least 2013.
Six of the last 10 Indy 500s were won by a driver preferring 2% milk – while three of the last 10 were won by a driver preferring whole milk.
The 2018 Indy 500, won by Will Power, is the only 500 of the last 10 where the winner didn’t have a preference. That was only one of 12 times where a driver didn’t have a preference since 2013.
The 107th Indianapolis 500 goes green, 12:45 p.m. Sunday, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Catch it on NBC/Peacock and IMS Radio.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com