We’re just 10 days out from the Indianapolis 500, and while drivers prepare to race 500 miles, others are getting ready for a tradition that’s just as iconic, the bottle of milk waiting in Victory Circle.
Abbie Herr, this year’s veteran milk presenter, and Ashley Stockwell, the rookie milk presenter, stopped by Daybreak to talk about what it means to be part of one of the most recognizable moments in motorsports.
“There’s a milk poll that takes place before, and it’s so exciting,” Herr explained. “(The drivers) get whole milk, 2%, or skim milk that they can choose from, but they all have the same benefits.”
American Dairy Association Indiana will have the milk on hand on race day. Herr, a fourth-generation Indiana dairy farmer, is returning for her second year and will be the one handing the winning driver their milk.
Stockwell, who will assist by finding and delivering bottles to the team owner, crew chief, and mechanic, said she’s been getting plenty of tips from Herr.
“She said, ‘Don’t drink, drop the milk. We don’t want to be a milk meme,’” Stockwell said. “Everybody’s just like, ‘Milk, milk, milk, milk, milk,’ and the excitement is there.”
Becoming a milk presenter is not something just anyone can do. You have to be an Indiana dairy farmer, and selections are made by a board of fellow farmers.
“They selected us to represent the Indiana dairy farm family,” Herr said. “It’s such a humbling thing to be able to represent the Indiana dairy farm families, and to think we’re out there on the world stage, giving milk the world stage. I mean, it’s just so exciting.”
The presenters also brought the official bottle that will be handed to the winning driver on race day.
“It’s freezing cold,” Herr said. “And then not to mention, you know, 13 essential nutrients, eight grams of protein. I mean, it’s a lot of hard work being out there.”
If you want to learn more about this tradition, click here for the story on how it all started back in 1936, when winning driver Louis Meyer requested buttermilk in victory lane.
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