147 Laps Around the Mall: Washington Hosts Freedom 250 Street Race

There won’t be gridlock in Washington, D.C., in one sense on Sunday, when dozens of IndyCars will blaze through the heart of the federal city at triple-digit speeds as part of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix.

To celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, President Trump hosted the Great American State Fair, a record-setting Fourth of July fireworks display and UFC fight on the south lawn of the White House earlier this year. Celebration of the national semiquincentennial will culminate when he waves the green flag Sunday to start the IndyCar race in downtown Washington.

Elsewhere in D.C., the race required road closures and increased traffic.

The openwheel event was organized by the Penske Corporation, which owns IndyCar, in partnership with the Trump-aligned group Freedom 250. A January executive order from Trump greenlighted the first-of-its-kind auto race.

“This will be like no other race ever,” Trump said in July. “It’ll be one of the most unforgettable racing events the world has ever seen.”

Drivers will start just in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, then barrel down Pennsylvania Avenue, zipping through turns around the National Archives, the National Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum before hitting a straightaway on Independence Avenue. The circuit stretches 1.7 miles and features seven turns.

Racers will lap the National Mall 147 times for a total travel distance of 250 miles, a nod to the semiquincentennial. The circuit is the longest street course in IndyCar history, according to organizers.

“We think about the Indy 500 as an iconic race, but this is going to move right up there next to it,” auto racing mogul Roger Penske said of the historic track at the White House, predicting earlier this summer that the historic course would be world-class.

“This is going to be wild,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in the Oval Office when Trump signed a January executive order.

“I said ‘pick the best site.’ It’s very important,” Trump said at the time. “Even if it’s more difficult to get, to get approved, pick the absolute best site.”

The best route, the one that circled the U.S. Capitol, never received approval from lawmakers. The course was subsequently shifted west.

The Penske Corporation is expected to shoulder the cost for the race itself. Corporate sponsors including Boeing, Starlink, and Shell have also contributed. According to organizers, the bill is expected to exceed $20 million, roughly the price tag for IndyCar’s comparable Detroit street race. IndyCar organizer Bud Denker told reporters earlier this week that Penske would take any responsibility for damage: “if something happens during the race, we’re responsible for fixing your roads and after the race as well.”

Drivers completed two practice sessions early Saturday to learn the course for the first time and competed for pole position in the afternoon during qualifying laps.

Trump is slated to take a lap around the course in the presidential motorcade before the checkered flag drops. White House officials said that he will be joined in his box seats by first lady Melania Trump and members of his family.

Big crowds are expected. Organizers said that they received more than 288,000 ticket requests in just over nine days. Admission is free.

Santino Ferrucci, the driver for AJ Foyt Racing, remembered coming to Washington, D.C., for the first time during his 8th grade field trip. The federal course wasn’t something he thought he would ever be racing, he told reporters.

Openwheel racing has always had an international flavor, said Rahal Letterman, a driver for Lanigan Racing, who added that the D.C. course has infused the sport with an added patriotism.