A D.C. race that steered clear of politics

The sounds of revving engines and squealing tires filled the air in downtown Washington, D.C., last weekend for the city’s final major semiquincentennial celebration—the Freedom 250 Grand Prix.

An international field of drivers took to the streets, with American IndyCar driver Kyle Kirkwood taking home the win in his No. 27 Honda. Reports tallied upwards of 150,000 spectators in attendance.

It’s been 225 years since President Thomas Jefferson celebrated America’s 25th birthday with a horse race. This year, a different kind of racing came to D.C.: The American open-wheel racing series, IndyCar, hosted its 15th race of the season on the streets of the nation’s capital, thanks to an executive order President Donald Trump signed in January. IndyCar’s parent corporation, Penske, organized D.C.’s first-ever high speed motor race—reportedly footing most of the bill, minus some city-handled repaving. The event stood apart from earlier, more-politicized, Freedom 250 celebrations that have dominated the National Mall this summer.

Carole Lieber, a local to the Washington metropolitan area and a self-described Democrat, came to the Grand Prix practice and qualifying rounds on Saturday, with plans to return for the finale the next day.

“It just seems like a very nice event and a nice way for people to enjoy being in Washington D.C. and celebrating the 250th without getting into political conversations with people,” Lieber said.

The first major Freedom 250 event of the summer, Trump’s Ultimate Fighting Championship martial arts fight on White House grounds, drew criticism from Democratic leaders regarding funding and a UFC fighter’s disparaging remarks about former first lady Michelle Obama. Similarly, the Great American State Fair received backlash from House Democrats, who published a report charging Freedom 250 with violating Congress’ guidelines intended to keep programming focused on “broad civic participation.”

In contrast, most Democratic leadership has stayed quiet regarding the Freedom 250 Grand Prix. D.C.’s Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser openly endorsed the event and indicated the future possibility of a repeat. Former Biden White House chief of staff Ron Klain told Politico’s Playbook he was excited for the event. Only on the final day of the Grand Prix did a public spat break out, when Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., took to X to criticize the “spectacle of an IndyCar race” amid high gas prices.

IndyCar racer Graham Rahal quickly responded, arguing that the privately funded race encouraged patriotism for Americans from either party. “Hundreds of thousands of AMERICANS, blue & red, as well as fans from all over the world loved the #Freedom250!” Rahal wrote.

At the race site, E.J. House, a Freedom 250 Grand Prix volunteer from Maryland, told me it was important for the country simply to celebrate how far it has come. “As Americans, I think it’s pretty cool to have these events commemorating the 250th. It doesn’t matter which political side you’re on.”

According to House, several hundred volunteers were positioned around the 1.7-mile, seven-turn racecourse to help visitors navigate the various bridges and gates. The circuit created an angular shape around the National Mall, with sharp turns framing D.C. attractions like the National Archives and Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Longer stretches ran through Pennsylvania and Independence Avenues—streets whose usual speed limit is 25 mph. On Saturday and Sunday, IndyCar racers approached speeds close to 200 mph.

Neil Johnson, a professor of physics at George Washington University, described being around such speeds as exhilarating.

“Air is what they call viscous, is slightly sticky in the sense that you can’t just go through and kind of move air around,” said Johnson. “So as a 200-mile-an-hour car is going past you, it’s going to pull the air around you. Not a great time to have gone to the hairdresser before.”

The potential air pressure is so great that, in preparation for the race, around 220 manhole covers were welded shut to prevent the high-speed vehicle’s torque from tearing them off.

Prior to the race, some also raised concerns about the potential impact of race-related vibrations on the art housed within the museums near the circuit. Johnson said that wasn’t a real danger.

The drivers dealt with their own G-force, of course—and heat. The district reached 85 degrees on Sunday, and IndyCar cockpits can be 30 degrees hotter than the outside temperature, according to Grand Prix winner Kirkwood.

“It was brutally hot for us, it was physical, it was hard, it was bumpy—we had everything thrown at us. But, fortunate to come home with the win,” Kirkwood told Fox News.

Leading up to the event, the IndyCar racers appeared to dodge most of the potential political conversations despite a visit to the White House and partnership with first lady Melania Trump’s Fostering the Future initiative to fund scholarships at Indiana University and Purdue University.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy had no problem advertising the event with a video promoting the Trump administration’s political goals in a post on X.

But at the race track, spectators just seemed interested in enjoying the show. Jason Hearn, a Saturday attendee, came from South Jersey for the Grand Prix. Hearn used to race on dirt tracks, and he did some low-level touring with NASCAR. To him, seeing the race in person in the nation’s capital was a dream.

“That’s a real experience. It makes me very proud to be an American,” said Hearn.

D.C. local Maria Martinez added, “I can’t believe it’s my neighborhood. I come here, I bike, and I play, and I participate in the museums, and I think,
how did they build it? How did it make a car race here?”