IndyCars Race Past the Capitol at 160 MPH: Trump Closes the National Mall for a Grand Prix He Ordered by Executive Order — and the Speaker Says He Will Push to Make It Annual
On August 23, 2026, IndyCar drivers ran 147 laps on a 1.66-mile temporary street circuit looping the National Mall and running down Pennsylvania and Independence avenues, reaching about 160 mph past the Capitol, the Smithsonian museums and the National Gallery of Art. Kyle Kirkwood won. President Trump, accompanied by the first lady, led a slow lap in the presidential limousine and waved the green flag. Organizers put attendance at up to 150,000 over the weekend. The race exists because Trump ordered it. He floated it in an AI-generated video on Truth Social in January 2026 and signed an executive order on January 30 authorizing it as part of the country's 250th-anniversary celebrations, directing Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to designate a route and secure permits "as expeditiously as possible." When the original route ran into congressional jurisdiction over Capitol grounds, Duffy called organizers and proposed proceeding under the executive order with an adjusted course. The event was run by Freedom 250, a Trump-backed nonprofit lodged inside the National Park Foundation, which the White House built as a parallel to America250 — the bipartisan commission Congress chartered to organize the anniversary. On July 2, 2026, Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee, led by Ranking Member Jared Huffman, released an interim report alleging that donors who intended to give to the congressionally chartered America250 were instead handed wire instructions routing their money to Freedom 250's bank account, conduct the report said could constitute wire fraud. Race weekend brought three hours of flight suspensions at Reagan National, extensive downtown road and parking closures, and a vibration study by the National Gallery of Art, which implemented protective measures for its collection. Trump administration officials and the House Speaker spent the weekend arguing the event should be repeated; the race's own organizers were more cautious, with Penske Corporation president Bud Denker calling it "the first ever. It might be the only," and IndyCar president Doug Boles calling it likely a one-year event.
“The track is wonderful. You know, we’re going around the Capitol, but this turned out to be a better track, and so now we see the Capitol.”