It’s now part of the motorsport vernacular, but the ‘Shoey’ started more than 10-years ago and exploded off the back of a Supercars star.
The ‘Shoey’ has been around in various forms throughout the 20th century, but it was V8 Utes driver Ryal Harris bringing it into motorsport.
Australian surfing group, The Mad Hueys popularised the ‘Shoey’ by drinking beer out of a boot on surf trips and it was Harris continuing the traditional.
Harris completed the first ‘Shoey’ after winning a V8 Utes race at Wanneroo Raceway in 2016 and received looks of discuss from those witnessing it, but drinking out of a race boot in celebration of victory has now become the norm.
However, it was Supercars larrikin David Reynolds propelling it into the mainstream when he completed a ‘Shoey’ after scoring a win in Darwin more than a month after Harris.
From there, the ‘Shoey’ quickly grew and became a signature move by Australian Formula 1 star Daniel Ricciardo, who managed to get some of the top personalities in the sport to drink from his race boot.
Ricciardo first did it at the 2016 German Grand Prix, a year after Harris and Reynolds started the trend, but it blew up when the likes of Patrick Stewart, Gerard Butler or Lewis Hamilton did it.
Returning to Australia, the Bathurst 1000 podium has been the scene of great ‘Shoey’s’, while Kenny Habul did likewise after scoring a podium at the 12 Hour.
The ‘Shoey’ continues to this day and has become a form of celebration not too dissimilar to the spray of champagne.
Long live the ‘Shoey’!