The 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 is fast approaching—and so is the tradition of having an Indiana Dairy producer hand an ice-cold glass bottle of milk to the winning driver of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
This year’s Indy 500 Veteran Milk Presenter is Alex Neuenschwander, a fourth-generation Indiana Dairy producer from the Bluffton area. He co-owns Neu-Hope Dairy with his brother Kip near Bluffton in Wells County.
“A couple of years ago I brought my son to the Indy 500 and it was it was an electric atmosphere,” said Neuenschwander. “We could feel the cars as they’re going around, and it was just an exciting time. My son was like, ‘Hey Dad, you got to be the one to hand off that milk to the winner,’ so I threw my through my name in and they asked me to, so I am beyond thrilled to be doing this.”
He’ll be handing off the traditional glass bottle of milk to this year’s winning driver, while Abbie Herr of Herr Dairy in Noble County, is this year’s Indy 500 Rookie Milk Presenter and will hand another glass bottle of milk to this year’s winning chief mechanic.
Last year, Neuenschwander learned a great deal while serving as the “Rookie Milk Presenter” and got a front-row seat to watch the exciting exchange between the 2023 “Veteran Milk Presenter” Kerry Estes and 2023 Indy 500 champion Josef Newgarden. While shooting a promotional video for American Dairy Association Indiana in 2022, Josef Newgarden had visited Estes’ dairy farm near New Palestine, so the two had already met and had gotten to know each other prior to Newgarden’s 2023 celebration in Victory Circle.
“That was epic. I don’t know that it would be possible the replicate that because it just was absolutely perfect. there was definitely a bond and a little bit of a chemistry between Kerry and Josef. I think Kerry may have been a little bit more excited than Josef when he won that race,” he says.
Neuenschwander adds that he’s not only proud to represent Indiana’s nearly 700 dairy producers as part of the celebration in Victory Circle at the end of this year’s Indy 500, but he’s also proud to represent the thousands of dairy producers throughout the U.S.
“As dairy farmers, we work really hard to produce high-quality milk. We just love it. It’s our passion—and it has to be a passion. I’m so excited to be part of that this year, and excited to see all my hard work coming into that moment,” he says.
Click below to hear C.J. Miller’s interview with Alex Neuenschwander, this year’s Indy 500 Veteran Milk Presenter.
