Why do racers drink milk after winning a race?

Question

When did that start?

Answer 1

Ottguy is right about the Indy 500.  

But just remember, don't spray milk all over you like they do champagne over winners....after awhile, spoiled milk really stinks.

Answer 2

Its a new thing racers are doing to get fans away from the "typical" Power beverages, sodas or beer sponcers. They now realize that their kids would want to be racers and winners too someday and who wants their children to grow up drinking only soft drinks or feel like they need a beer after "winning".

Answer 3

it is all advertisement.

Answer 4

The only race where this is a tradition is the Indianapolis 500.

Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Louis Meyer regularly drank buttermilk to refresh himself on a hot day and happened to drink some in Victory Lane as a matter of habit after winning the 1936 race. An executive with what was then the Milk Foundation was so elated when he saw the moment captured in a photograph in the sports section of his newspaper the following morning that he vowed to make sure it would be repeated in coming years. There was a period between 1947-55 when milk was apparently no longer offered, but the practice was revived in 1956 and has been a tradition ever since.