Fox Sports, IndyCar, and President Donald Trump are coming together to celebrate America’s birthday the only way they know how: By making cars go vroom-vroom around the nation’s capital.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday for an IndyCar race in Washington in August as part of celebrations to mark the 250th birthday of the United States.
Coinciding with that, Fox Sports announced The Freedom 250 Grand Prix, which will take place Aug. 23 and be broadcast on Fox. This will be the first IndyCar street race in Washington, D.C.
While the course has not yet been finalized, it will take place on or near the National Mall. Trump’s executive order directed that the course showcase iconic national monuments and that the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Transportation issue all necessary permits, approvals, and authorizations expeditiously.
Trump was joined at the Oval Office for the executive order signing by Roger Penske, founder and CEO of Penske Corp, which owns the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as well as officials from Fox Sports, which has the exclusive broadcasting rights to IndyCar and owns 33.3 percent of Penske Entertainment.
“It’s going to be an economic benefit to the area, to the city,” said Penske without providing further details. Details on how race cars will weave the streets of downtown Washington, which are often clogged with traffic, are yet to be announced.
“This would be one of the most ambitious announcements in American motorsports history, given the short timeframe, but perhaps the executive order will cut through the typical red tape,” said Jeff Gluck, senior motorsports writer for The Athletic.
In August, reports emerged that IndyCar was exploring hosting a street race in Washington, D.C. as soon as 2026. While Penske hasn’t been a fan of everything the Trump Administration has tried to do, they’ve certainly been able to leverage their relationship with him to make that happen.
