IndyCar takes over the National Mall: The Freedom 250 Grand Prix, in photos

The National Mall became a racetrack this weekend. Drivers ran practice, qualifying and two exhibition races Saturday, and Sunday brought the main event: 25 of them racing 147 laps on a temporary 1.7-mile, seven-turn circuit past the U.S. Capitol, the National Archives and the Washington Monument.

President Trump, who cleared the way for the race with an executive order in January, waved the green flag from a bulletproof-glass suite in Turn 1 and took a ceremonial lap around the course in his presidential limousine before the start. Kyle Kirkwood set the fastest practice lap Saturday at 106.668 mph, and Jeff Gordon won the first International Race of Champions exhibition.

Before the weekend, crews welded the course's manhole covers shut, more than 200 of them, because cars at these speeds can pull them out of the street, ABC News reported . Three Smithsonian museums and the National Archives restricted entry to ticketholders for the weekend, and the National Gallery of Art's East Building closed entirely Sunday.

Organizers expected about 140,000 people each day.