Downtown Washington, D.C., has become a racetrack, with planners putting the finishing touches on the city-street course that will host the district’s first immersive IndyCar race this weekend.
President Donald Trump is expected to start IndyCar’s Freedom 250 Grand Prix on Sunday with an honorary lap ahead of the historic race, with practices beginning on Saturday to mark the start of the racing weekend. The practice races will begin bright and early on Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m., with the official Grand Prix race at 1 p.m.
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The IndyCar course is set up in front of the U.S. Capitol Building, circling around a 1.7-mile section of the National Mall area from Independence Ave. to Pennsylvania Ave. in between 9th and 3rd St. NW. Beltway drivers have seen street closures in the center of D.C. as planners have finished the track ahead of the weekend start, marking the first sign of the historic race set to hit the capital city.
IndyCar drivers will hit up to 185 mph speeds on the seven-turn race course, lapping 150 times around iconic D.C. landmarks like the National Archives, the National Gallery of Art, and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
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The event required a special paving of the roadway, with construction crews laying fresh, even asphalt along the course and putting up the proper barriers and safety infrastructure required for a race of this magnitude in a major city.
With construction crews finishing up the final touches on the racetrack, here is a first look at what downtown D.C. looks like ahead of the race in honor of the nation’s 250th anniversary:
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