Kyle Kirkwood turned the first motor race ever staged around the National Mall into a one-man show, holding off Christian Lundgaard by 3.0906 seconds after leading 128 of the 147 laps of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix in downtown Washington on Sunday.

The Andretti Global driver dominated the seven-turn, 1.7-mile temporary circuit from second on the grid in his No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda. His teammate Will Power completed the podium in third, with Marcus Ericsson fourth and Kyffin Simpson fifth. Championship leader Alex Palou finished 20th after a difficult afternoon.

“This is incredible. I’m almost in tears,” Kirkwood said after the flag.

The sports story stretched well beyond the winners’ circle. Fox’s broadcast averaged 3.28 million viewers and peaked at 3.48 million as Kirkwood closed in on victory, giving IndyCar its largest non-Indianapolis 500 audience since 1995. That was a 279 percent jump on Fox’s average Sunday non-500 audience in 2025.

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Trump and Melania lead the field in the Beast

Before lights out, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump led a ceremonial lap of the D.C. circuit in the presidential limousine, waving to the crowd as a Marine Corps band played. Trump then waved the green flag to start the race, though a caution came out on the opening lap after debris was found in Turn 4.

Roger Penske, whose company owns IndyCar and who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump in 2019, had pushed for years to bring an open-wheel race to the capital.

“Roger told me they had been trying to do it for 20 years and he’d come down. I think he said he was down 211 times to try and get it done,” Trump told Fox. “And when he came to see Trump, it got done in about 15 minutes.”

Preparations included welding shut more than 200 manhole covers along the course, which took the cars past the Washington Monument and along a stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House.

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Kirkwood cuts Palou’s lead to 91 points

Kirkwood’s second win of the 2026 season cut his deficit to Palou in the championship from 133 points to 91 points, with three races left on the calendar. IndyCar put attendance at 215,000 across the two-day weekend.

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