Kyle Kirkwood wins Freedom 250 Grand Prix as IndyCar takes over DC

Kyle Kirkwood, an American IndyCar driver racing for Andretti Global, took home the checkered flag Sunday with a win at the Freedom 250 Grand Prix , the first professional motorsports road race ever run on the streets of Washington, D.C.

The event, which was billed as a de facto finale to a slew of “America 250” celebrations in the District this summer, was heavy on symbols of American pride and attended by President Trump and other top Cabinet officials.

Sunday’s race day drew tens of thousands to the nation’s capital and shuttered much of the National Mall and downtown D.C. in the days leading up to the event.

With his win, Kirkwood notched his seventh career IndyCar victory and his sixth on a street course, raking in key IndyCar series points with just two weeks remaining in the racing league’s season.

A Jupiter, Fla., native and one of eight Americans in the field, Kirkwood made a point of referencing Trump directly during a postrace interview after speeding away with a lead that lasted more than 125 laps on Sunday.

“I’m almost in tears here. This is a big moment for us and a big moment for America with the 250,” Kirkwood said.

“I’m a fellow Florida guy, I live up in Jupiter,” he said, pointing to the area where the president was watching. “It’s cool to see him down here. And what a place to do it. If you can’t win the Indy 500, this is definitely the place to win.”

Trump began Sunday’s race by waving the green flag after his motorcade drove a ceremonial first lap around the 1.7-mile track featuring seven turns and weaving through some of D.C.’s most iconic monuments and federal buildings.

Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum was seen on television coverage atop the pre-race podium and screamed into a microphone when it was time for drivers to “start your engines.”

Burgum is one of several top Trump officials who had been tasked with selling the event as a moment of unity for the country, even as local critics raised noise and vibration concerns.

“This is the perfect time to do this. Congress is on recess, the economic development of D.C., the people here all love this idea,” Burgum argued during an interview on Fox News just hours before the race.

“I’m a DC resident. Please DON’T do this again next year,” wrote the left-leaning influencer and media personality Aaron Parnas on the social platform X, responding to a clip of Burgum’s remark.

The president was seen visiting with top government leaders, business officials and executives at IndyCar during the nearly three-hour-long race, while Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was tasked with waving the checkered flag as Kirkwood soared through the finish line.

Kirkwood finished four seconds ahead of Denmark native Christian Lundgaard, averaging 93.2 mph and gaining an additional 40 IndyCar Series points on leader Álex Palou, one of the icons of the sport who struggled in D.C. on Sunday, finishing 20th out of 25.

Throughout the weekend, the roars of the IndyCar and bustling pit crews could be heard for blocks across downtown, as some residents complained about traffic, long lines to get into the racetrack and noisy flyovers as part of the celebration.

Elected Democrats, meanwhile, suggested Sunday’s first-of-its-kind event sent an out-of-touch message to Americans across the country.

“While you struggle with the cost of gas, Trump offers you the spectacle of an IndyCar race hoping you will not notice,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wrote in one social media post on Sunday. “More taxpayer money spent on his self-aggrandizing distractions. And you get higher taxes and higher costs.”

College football begins this weekend, thrusting a debate about the future of what it means to be a student-athlete into the spotlight once again. Some observers expressed outrage online over reports that star University of South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers is not taking any classes this fall before he graduates this December. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who has yet to signal support for the Protect College Sports Act, responded in a social media post that he had proposed an amendment requiring athletes to be enrolled and making progress toward a degree. “We are seeing too many cases where the ‘student’ in student-athlete is becoming optional,” the Republican said.

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) appears to be enjoying his recess. The Republican spent the weekend in St. Louis, where the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship was being held. Schmitt played in the tournament’s pro-am alongside world No. 1 player Scottie Scheffler, who is fresh off a win in Memphis and is looking to make a run for another FedEx Cup title.

An Alabama jury on Thursday awarded $9.25 million in damages after finding that The New York Times defamed Kai Spears, a college basketball player at the University of Alabama, by incorrectly reporting that he was at the scene of a fatal shooting in Tuscaloosa. Three other basketball players from the school were present at the January 2023 shooting, and Spears’s attorney praised the judge’s ruling. The Times could still appeal the decision.

Jocks on the Hill: Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.)

Sen. Chris Coons, one of several Democrats working with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to get the Protect College Sports Act passed once lawmakers return from recess, answered some sports questions for The Hill.

“Football. I played in high school, my son-in-law and father-in-law played. I married into a Penn State-obsessed family. My father-in-law and brother-in-law made me take a quiz about Penn State football before I married my wife, and I flunked it cold. If it wasn’t for my now mother-in-law, I don’t think I would have made it. It’s something that’s bonded our family.”

“Our other son Jack went to Notre Dame, and we’ve become a big Notre Dame family. So in the fall, I’m watching Eagles, Notre Dame, Penn State pretty much every weekend, and my wife Annie is a huge football fan.”

Is there an athlete you looked up to growing up?

“The Flyers, Sixers and Phillies in the late ’70s, early ’80s. … I was pretty focused on high school sports, though. The Phillies won the World Series when I was a junior in high school, and Dallas Green’s son was a classmate of mine, so we followed him pretty closely.”

Hate is a strong word, but is there a team you love to root against?

“Ohio State, for sure. Sometimes Michigan. The Commanders, I almost said the Redskins, and you know … Dallas, Dallas, Dallas.”

Sports and politics are both full of cliches, what’s one that resonates with you?

It’s no secret the NFL has international ambition, but The Athletic’s Jayna Bardahl writes on what the feasibility of an overseas NFL team would be and what challenges such a club would face.

For those of you closely following the Los Angeles Lakers-Buss family succession drama, The Ringer’s Katie Baker has a great story here laying out how “sibling squabbles, legal battles — and now a contested sale could end the family’s claim on the franchise once and for all.”

It’s never too early to start speculating which performer might get the Super Bowl gig next February, right? Sports Illustrated notes prediction markets are currently favoring hip-hop icon Jay-Z over Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus.