IndyCars race in Washington for Trump's US birthday bash

María Paula Mijares Torres and Hadriana Lowenkron, Bloomberg News on Aug 23, 2026

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For one weekend only, speed limits don’t apply to cars circling the National Mall in Washington as the Trump administration brings an IndyCar race through the capital, part of the president’s celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday.

President Donald Trump rode in his presidential motorcade around the 1.7-mile (2.7-kilometer) track before the final race early Sunday afternoon with the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument in the background. This event comes two months after celebrating his 80th birthday with a UFC fight on the White House lawn and the Fourth of July fireworks political rally and fireworks spectacle.

“I want everyone to be safe and I want the people to have a good time,” Trump said in a brief interview with Fox at the makeshift track before the race.

At a July event to showcase the Grand Prix, Trump said the event would “be an awesome display of American patriotism and raw horsepower and ingenuity. You’re going to see cars at the level that they’ve never been at before, with cars racing more than 190 miles and even higher than that down Pennsylvania Avenue.”

He added, “It wasn’t exactly designed for that.”

The Freedom 250 Grand Prix is part of the IndyCar Series, the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the U.S. Drivers in the 249.9-mile-long race will complete 147 laps with seven turns around the track in the National Mall.

A massive security perimeter around the grassy Mall has been closed for much of the summer after hosting the Great American State Fair. Because some of the roads will undergo repairs after the race, organizers said some streets will be closed until Sept. 3.

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser estimated 140,000 people will attend the event. Bud Denker, president of Penske Corp. and the race’s chair, said he’s expecting the race to bring about $210 million to the Washington area in tourism dollars.

“We’re doing very, very little construction to these roads, and if something happens during the race, we’re responsible for fixing your roads and after the race as well too,” Denker said in late July.

Lisa Harcrow and her family, all car-racing fans, came in from Northern Virginia for the weekend.

“Seeing the National Archives Museum and the Capitol when we crossed the track and being able to take that picture with the Freedom 250 Grand Prix logo, I mean, yeah, once-in-a-lifetime thing,” she said.

Denker has also said that Penske is covering most of the costs of the event, but no total amount has been disclosed.

Security costs associated with the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Park Police and the Metropolitan Police Department will be covered by federal funds, including the Washington Emergency Planning and Security Fund, for which Congress provided $90 million this year.

“People are coming in from all over the country to their capital city — some for the first time ever — to see this IndyCar race. So the city is loving it,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Fox News Sunday.

Trump has injected himself into the U.S. anniversary commemorations in multiple ways. In addition to acting as grand master for the events, he has created a by-request U.S. passport that displays a photo of him and a commemorative gold coin bearing his likeness. A day before the July 4 Independence Day celebrations, he gave a speech at Mount Rushmore, where he mused about wanting to join.

He turned what was initially scheduled to be the opening performance for a state fair on the National Mall into a political rally after multiple artists pulled out.

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