Abbie Herr of Kendallville-area Herr Dairy Farm, Inc. presents victorious Indy 500 driver Alex Palou with a bottle of whole milk, provided by her farm. Photo from Chip Ganassi Racing.

News Release

KENDALLVILLE — A Kendallville dairy farmer played a key role in one of the Indianapolis 500’s traditions on Memorial Day weekend.

Abbie Herr, of Herr Dairy Farm in Kendallville, presented the celebratory bottle of milk to Indy 500 champion Alex Palou in the Winner’s Circle at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 25. Herr, whose farm also provided the milk, was selected by the American Dairy Association Indiana.

The presentation marked the culmination of a three-year process for Herr. In 2023, she was designated as a rookie-elect and observed the event. In 2024, she served as the official rookie and presented milk to the owner and chief mechanic of the winning team.

This year, she took center stage with the driver’s bottle.

Herr and her husband, Steve, are fourth-generation dairy farmers and operate a robotic dairy using eight robots to milk approximately 400 cows. The couple is currently raising the fifth generation of their farming family.

Abbie Herr expressed pride in representing Indiana’s approximately 700 dairy farm families.

As part of the Indy 500 tradition, drivers are polled ahead of the race for their preferred milk. This year, 28 drivers requested whole milk, while five chose 2% milk. Herr came prepared with bottles of both, stored in a locked cooler and sourced from her farm.

Abbie Herr’s Indy 500 experience extended beyond race day. She recently took a two-lap ride in a two-seater IndyCar at speeds reaching 210 mph and participated in the annual Indy 500 parade

Abbie Herr said her family’s long-standing enthusiasm for the Indy 500 made the experience even more meaningful.

Still, she noted it would have been exciting to see two-time defending champion Joseph Newgarden win again.

Instead, Palou claimed his first Indianapolis 500 victory, and with it his first ceremonial swig of milk, courtesy of Kendallville’s own.