Start Your Chugging: Indianapolis 500 Drivers' Milk Selections Include Whole, Skim, 2 Percent

Is there anything you'd rather drink than milk after spending several hours driving 500 miles in a hot car at well over 200 mph? Yes, lots of things. But is there anything better than a tall, cool bottle of milk after winning the Indianapolis 500?

No. No there is not.

The Indy 500 is filled with traditions, and one of the greatest traditions of them is the celebratory bottle of milk that the winner drinks, but also dumps over their head and into the cockpit.

Each year, the Indiana Dairy Association takes each driver's preferred milk — whole, 2%, and skim — and has a bottle of each on hand for the winner.

This year, 28 of the 33 drivers are opting for whole milk (which is the correct option) if they're first to take the checkered flag on Sunday.

I feel like it's whole or bust, and that's coming from me, a 2% and/or skim guy from way back. Celebrating a victory in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing is not the time to be counting calories.

But what do I know? Three drivers picked 2%: Hélio Castroneves, Takuma Sato, and Benjamin Pedersen. This will be Pedersen's first Indy 500, so he hasn't had a chance to taste the milk (yet), but the other 2%-ers — Castroneves and Sato — have combined for 6 Indianapolis 500 wins.

Coincidence? Probably, but then again, maybe that's their secret.

Meanwhile, Andretti Autosport's Romain Grosjean and RLL's Katherine Legge are the only 2 drivers in the field who are going the skim route should they find Victory Lane.

I stand by whole being the way to go, but I must say, I respect the commitment to a healthy diet.

Follow on Twitter: @Matt_Reigle