WASHINGTON (AP) — The streets of the nation’s capital will host an IndyCar race this summer as part of celebrations marking America’s 250th birthday, President Donald Trump announced Friday, relishing the prospect of vehicles roaring past the White House at speeds approaching 200 mph.
Trump signed an executive order establishing the race on Aug. 23 alongside Roger Penske, owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar and teams in multiple racing series including NASCAR.
“It’s going to be so exciting,” Trump said. “I love the racing. I don’t have a lot of time to watch it, but I love the racing.”
Penske suggested there was “no better way for us to bring automotive and speed into the D.C. area, and to be able to have the opportunity to compete here with our IndyCars.”
A news release from IndyCar said the route would include the National Mall, and the executive order gives the Departments of Transportation and the Interior two weeks to designate a route through Washington “that is suitable for conducting an INDYCAR street race and that will showcase the majesty of our capital city in celebration of the 250th anniversary of America’s independence.”
The order also directs city and other officials to work closely with race organizers.
The event continues Trump’s embrace of sports during his second term: Most of his domestic travel has been built around attending major games and events — including the recent NCAA football national championship in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The president has also been personally involved in promoting a UFC fight to help mark America’s 250th anniversary which he has said is set for June 14 on the White House grounds — a date that happens to be his 80th birthday.
But Trump isn’t planning to attend the upcoming Super Bowl on Feb. 8 between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots in Santa Clara, California, suggesting it’s too far to travel.
In IndyCar’s case, the race is set to come to him.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who also attended Friday’s signing ceremony in the Oval Office, gushed: “To think, 190 miles an hour down Pennsylvania Avenue. This is going to be wild.”
Trump said he’d urged organizers to pick the best race route through Washington’s streets — even if they were more complicated logistically.
“I said, pick the best site. It’s very important,” the president said. “Even if it’s more difficult to get, to get approved, pick the absolute best site.”
Organizers said they’d long lobbied members of Congress to authorize a road race in Washington, but had been previously unsuccessful. Duffy asked when the last road race in the capital occurred and was told it was in 1801 and involved horses during the administration of President Thomas Jefferson — prompting Trump to reply, “That’s something.”
“Now we’re going to do a real race,” said Duffy, who said the event would be free for the public, declaring: “Freedom, America. Speed. And road racing. It doesn’t get more American than that.”
