If you thought politics were swept out of IndyCar racing when the CART/Champ Car–IRL split was resolved, think again. Leaning heavily on his friends Roger Penske and the Fox Corporation, US president Donald Trump signed an executive order on January 30 to create an IndyCar race to be staged this summer called the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington DC. The event, round 15 of 18, is intended to “recognise the historic milestone of America’s independence in addition to celebrating the unparalleled tradition and legacy of America’s motor sports industry”.
Scheduled for August 21-23, the Freedom 250 has been wedged into one of the few gaps in IndyCar’s tight summer schedule, meaning the season will now wrap with five consecutive race weekends, including a Milwaukee doubleheader and a pair of 5000-mile round trips to the West Coast. The race will be run on a yet-to-be-revealed street course near the National Mall, with free admission to the public. It has not been explained how the event will be funded.
The politics surrounding the Freedom 250 are not typical racing ones such as engine supply rules or noise abatement regulations. It’s about the perception of IndyCar aligning itself with the Trump administration during a time of extreme political strife in the US.
Trump’s controversial leadership – most graphically illustrated by images of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents beating and killing American citizens in their zeal to identify and remove illegal immigrants – has left the US more divided than at any time I have seen in my lifetime. And now a pop-up IndyCar race has been thrown into the mix.
IndyCar maintains that any politics surrounding the Freedom 250 are being created from the outside. After all, business is business, and when the president asks (or decrees), you don’t say no. But reaction among fans was swift and predictably fell along party lines. Known Trump supporters on my social media feed couldn’t hide their enthusiasm: “Got my tickets and my Airbnb!” Meanwhile, Trump’s detractors quickly declared they were “done with IndyCar”.
“Business is business, and when the president asks, you don’t say no”
It’s no secret that Penske is tight with Trump – in October 2019, just weeks before Penske bought the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar Series, Trump (in his first term) awarded Penske the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in America.
More recently, Fox became the sole broadcaster for the IndyCar Series and purchased a one-third interest in Penske Entertainment, the company that operates IndyCar and the Speedway.
It looks like the ‘buddy system’ is very much in effect here, and its polarising effect on IndyCar’s fanbase was immediately clear. Some say the Freedom 250 is a fantastic opportunity to boost IndyCar’s profile and bask in the national spotlight, potentially with a level of attention only achieved by the Indianapolis 500. Others insist it’s a bad look for IndyCar to participate in what they envision as a Nuremberg-like campaign rally for the president, all being beamed live coast-to-coast on Fox.
NASCAR leaned heavily into the patriotic American theme last July when it announced a race weekend on the grounds of Naval Base Coronado near San Diego, California set to run in June. The event, conceived by NASCAR, and with a focus on the 250th anniversary of the US Navy, recently picked up title sponsorship from a major US defence contractor. NASCAR rarely misses a chance to beat the All-American drum, but its Anduril 250 has escaped the political stigma of IndyCar’s Washington DC race.
