U.S. CAPITOL AND WHITE HOUSE (Washington) — Scott McLaughlin had never been to Washington, D.C., so he expressed a somewhat simple emotion anticipating his first visit.
“I’m excited to go there,” he told me a week ago.
On his first visit Thursday, like many first-time visitors, he went to the White House. But he was in the White House. In the Rose Garden.
Penske Corporation President Bud Denker, Graham Rahal, Santino Ferrucci, Pato O’Ward and Alex Palou with the Winning Owner’s trophy in front of the US Capitol. (Photo by Michael L. Levitt/Lumen via Getty Images)
The Team Penske driver — a native of New Zealand who became a U.S. citizen last year — was among the drivers who presented a racing helmet to First Lady Melania Trump during an event Thursday afternoon.
McLaughlin, Scott Dixon, Graham Rahal and Alexander Rossi made the visit to the White House, while Rahal, Santino Ferrucci, Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward visited the U.S. Capitol grounds and the Cannon House Office Building, the city’s oldest congressional office building.
“I know I’m not from this country, but this country has given me so much. Just the opportunity to be here as a car driver, be a winner and a champion and to create a family here in the U.S.,” four-time (and likely soon-to-be five-time) INDYCAR champion Palou, who is from Spain, said during a news conference.
“So this has been incredible.”
Drivers and executives are exploring Washington D.C. as it prepares to host Sunday’s Freedom 250.
If the government is going to let you race on their grounds, you’ve got to make the stops before getting to the track for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix this weekend.
INDYCAR drivers will practice and qualify on Saturday and then race Sunday. In what most likely will be a one-and-done event, the course includes iconic Washington streets like Pennsylvania Avenue, Constitution Avenue and Independence Avenue.
“We will have this weekend an amazing, iconic 250-mile Freedom Grand Prix,” Penske Entertainment Corp. Chairman Roger Penske said in speaking at the White House. “And it will cap off 250 years, an anniversary of our country.”
For the most part, the event will bring with it a typical street-course vibe. Some locals don’t love streets being closed. There’s debate about whether it’s bringing in enough tourism dollars to justify the needed local spend. All the while, people are stopping at the course admiring the setup and asking if they can go on the track just to take a photo. For what it’s worth, it seemed that security was accommodating.
But then there are also things that just make the mind explode.
The start-finish line is across from the U.S. Capitol. The western part of the course has a great view of the Washington Monument. The local metro transportation authority put an INDYCAR show car on a subway rail and shuttled it throughout the system Thursday to remind people the best way to get to the race.
Drivers are hopeful they can put on a good show. The pre-race spectacle includes six flyovers, one for each branch of the military. That is scheduled to begin after the FOX pre-race coverage begins at 11:30 a.m. ET.
INDYCAR’s Freedom 250 will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States.
The race is 147 laps around a 1.7-mile (seven-turn) course. President Trump is expected to wave the green flag shortly after 1 p.m. for what could be a three-hour marathon. An executive order from President Donald Trump allowed the race to happen by fast-tracking approvals, permits and any road alterations.
“It’s not one [political] aspect of the opposite,” A.J. Foyt Racing driver Santino Ferrucci instructed me and different reporters Thursday standing in view of the U.S. Capitol. “It’s the nation coming collectively.”
As a part of the White Home occasion, INDYCAR and FOX Sports activities introduced they’re collectively donating $2 million to Melania Trump’s “Fostering the Future” initiative to fund scholarships for many who grew up in foster care.
FOX Sports activities owns 33 % of INDYCAR.
“Collectively, we aren’t simply creating pathways for these unimaginable college students, we’re additionally making historical past this weekend,” FOX Sports activities CEO Eric Shanks mentioned throughout ready remarks on the White Home. “FOX Sports activities presents a landmark occasion this weekend with the Freedom 250 INDYCAR Grand Prix, proper right here in Washington, D.C., racing by way of the nation’s capital to rejoice our 250th birthday.
“That is going to be a celebration of our nice nation in contrast to some other.”
Sunday’s road course will race previous a number of the nation’s most historic landmarks.
Drivers don’t get on monitor till Saturday however probably might be on the course Friday afternoon in the course of the monitor stroll. That would be the first time many will get to see how the course is laid out versus the fashions.
“Apart from the [Indianapolis] 500, that is the occasion that I really feel such as you wish to win, particularly with it probably simply being a one-off,” Ferrucci mentioned. “You actually need to have the ability to go dwelling with that trophy as a result of that’s historical past.”
Rahal can have a cease to make first. He’s going to go to Arlington Nationwide Cemetery, the place his grandfather is buried.
It is going to be a solemn second for Rahal however one which reminds him of what it took for there to be a 250th birthday, a Freedom 250. And he admitted he’ll absorb as a lot surroundings as he can.
“Once you get to return to Washington, you’ve received to take the time to soak in all of the historical past that’s right here,” Rahal instructed me Thursday.
“It’s a spectacular place for certain.”
WHAT YOU SHOULD READ NEXT
The inaugural Freedom 250 hits the streets of D.C., on Sunday. This is all the small print on the one-of-a-kind INDYCAR occasion.
