| The Indianapolis 500 is dubbed "The Greatest | | | | tune with backing from the Purdue University |
| Spectacle of Racing" for its prestige, longtime history | | | | Marching Band prior to the race and directly following |
| and monumental turnout every year. The IndyCar | | | | the singing of the national anthem. |
| race is certainly the highlight of racing season, and as | | | | Drinking Milk in Victory Lane – Most IndyCar races |
| such an esteemed event in the IRL, it has | | | | end with the winner chugging some kind of refreshing |
| accumulated quite a few traditions over the last | | | | beverage, and in the Indy 500 the tradition is for the |
| several decades. Here are some of the top Indy 500 | | | | victor to take a big drink of cow juice. Taking a gulp |
| customs that will provide entertainment for racing | | | | from an old-fashioned bottle of milk has been |
| fans with <a rel="nofollow" | | | | tradition at the Indianapolis 500 since 1936, when |
| onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(' | | | | winner Louis Meyer drank buttermilk to cool himself |
| outgoing/article_exit_link');" href=" 500 tickets< | | | | off after winning the race. The milk-drinking tradition |
| a> to this year's Memorial Day weekend | | | | was an on-and-off tradition in the '40s and '50s but |
| showdown. | | | | has been commonplace in Victory Lane ever since |
| Music by the Gordon Pipers – The Gordon Pipers | | | | then. |
| have been a hit at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway | | | | Kissing the Bricks – Though it actually started |
| during Indy 500 weekend ever since 1963, when the | | | | during the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor |
| Scottish/Celtic bagpipers were discovered by IMS | | | | Speedway, kneeling to kiss the bricks at the start |
| owner Tony Hulman and invited to perform during | | | | finish line at the IMS is another tradition |
| the big race. The Gordon Pipers perform every year | | | | deeply-rooted in the Indy 500. The winner of the |
| at the Indy 500 and are part of the festivities in | | | | Indianapolis 500 traditionally kneels to the Yard of |
| Victory Lane at the end of the 500-mile race. | | | | Bricks at the speedway after the race and kisses the |
| "Back Home Again in Indiana" – The unofficial | | | | bricks, an event that stems from an occasion during |
| song of the Hoosier State, "Back Home Again in | | | | a Brickyard race in 1996. |
| Indiana" is a classic boasting the chorus: "Back home | | | | After the 1996 Brickyard 400, race winner Dale |
| again in Indiana/ And it seems that I can see/ The | | | | Jarrett and his crew chief Todd Parrott began the |
| gleaming candlelight, still burning bright/ Through the | | | | tradition of kissing the bricks when, after the race, |
| sycamores for me./ The new-mown hay sends all its | | | | they both kneeled and kissed the ground in the Yard |
| fragrance/ Through the fields I used to roam./ When | | | | of Bricks to pay tribute to the great drivers who had |
| I dream about the moonlight on the Wabash/ How I | | | | won the race in previous decades. The tradition |
| long for my Indiana home." | | | | stuck, and annual champions of the Indy 500 and |
| "Back Home Again in Indiana" was first made famous | | | | Brickyard 400 still kiss the bricks after race wins. |
| in 1917 when the Original Dixieland Jazz Band | | | | To see what other traditions will take place at this |
| recorded and released it via Columbia Records. Since | | | | year's Indianapolis 500 on May 30, get tickets to |
| 1946, it has been an Indy 500 tradition for a vocalist | | | | "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" from <a |
| (most notably Jim Nabors since 1972) to sing the | | | | rel="nofollow" onclick="javascript:pageTracker. |