Washington, D.C. – Celebrating 250 years of America’s existence, the Freedom 250 Grand Prix on the streets of the nation’s capital became a reality on the NTT INDYCAR Series schedule, with American driver Kyle Kirkwood taking the win by 3.09 seconds over Christian Lundgaard. Will Power finished third, followed by Marcus Ericsson and Kyffin Simpson.
“You guys deserve this one,” radioed Kirkwood to his crew after taking the checkered flag, earning his second win of the season in dominant fashion, by leading 128 laps, and giving his Andretti team their 80th victory. “You can’t even put it into words. This is incredible. A big moment for us, for America, Andretti, and Honda. Man, that was a hard race, 147 laps. I’m just trying to catch my breath. I’m only running on adrenaline right now. Otherwise, I’d be on the floor.
“That was a really great moment (about meeting the President and the First Lady prior to the race),” added Kirkwood, who aggressively passed Alex Palou for the lead in the second turn, on the first lap, to earn his seventh-career victory. “I’m a Florida guy. This is definitely the place to win. If you can’t win the Indy 500, then you want to win this one. This was awesome and a dream come true. We outperformed everyone. Will (Power, who came from Team Penske) has been a wonderful guy to have on the team this year. It’s made us better as a whole. It’s the little things that make the difference. After last weekend (Markham street circuit, when Kirkwood crashed), these mistakes feel terrible. I had not had one for a long time. It’s a great feeling to rebound. I’ll cherish this win for a long time.”
Lundgaard drove from ninth to second-place but didn’t have the speed to catch Kirkwood. The longest street race – 147 laps to reach 250 miles – took 2 hours and 40 minutes to complete, with six cautions, all for contact (first two were for debris on track from pieces of race cars), totaling 29 laps run under yellow.
“What an experience all weekend,” said Lundgaard, earning his sixth podium of the season, which includes two wins. “The best background I’ve ever had on a racetrack. I feel it is fitting that an American won. We gave it our best shot. At Markham, we didn’t quite execute, but we recovered here. Obviously, the race was long. It’s a better result than we expected. I was faster than Kirkwood for a few laps but he was faster than me for about 12 laps. We have three more races to go. I’m just happy to see Alex (Palou) not win for once. This race is a good contender to the Indy 500 and it is a testament to where the series is going.”
Kirkwood’s Andretti teammate Power earned his third podium in a row and fifth of the season after making 13 on-track passes, the most of the 25 competing drivers, after starting 12th.
“Our team did a good job, gave me a great car, and fast stops,” explained Power. “Often there are two of us on the podium (Andretti Global drivers). This race was epic and a really cool race. I’m stoked to have a podium here. I could never dream of a place like this when I started all those years ago. We’re becoming the team to beat. It is becoming normal for us to do this, earn podiums. We are eliminating all the weaknesses. The team is making huge strides over this season. Next year we should be all top-fives in the championship.
“That first yellow kind of hurt us but we still had over 100 laps,” added Power. “I saved a lot of fuel so I could go further than the guys around me. The track was very racy. You could pass. It was an amazing event. I’d like to come back. The President watched the entire race and was still there when I pulled up for the podium. This race had an Indy 500 vibe. INDYCAR is the most rewarding series to race in because anyone can win. And you have to be good on all types of tracks.”
The NTT INDYCAR Series staged race 15 of 18 in 2026 on the streets of downtown Washington D.C., just a few blocks west of the U.S. Capitol. The track’s front straightaway, between Turns 1-2 and including pit lane, is located on Pennsylvania Ave., in front of the Canadian Embassy.
The National Mall was transformed into a 1.7-mile, seven-turn counterclockwise race track, with six left and one right turn. It was planned only seven months in advance and built in just three weeks, following 81 meetings in 93 days with all the parties involved, including the U.S. Departments of Transportation and Interior.
President Trump signed an Executive Order and the Penske Entertainment Corporation, along with the support of the FOX TV network, accomplished the first-class undertaking for the two-day event that took over 1,350 permits. The track was very wide, five street lanes, with some violent bumps to navigate, circulating through the monuments and an area with more than 100 museums.
Corporate hospitality sold out at a cost of US $5,000 per person (a 50-person suite cost $250,000). A lottery for free tickets was offered to the first 100,000 who registered, leaving over 100,000 without tickets. Fans were stacked all around the perimeter of the track, sometimes as many as 15 people deep, with an estimated two-day attendance of over 215,000. Very limited grandstands were available on a first-come, first-serve basis, filling before 9 a.m. The Penske organization was said to have spent over US $30 million to host the race, which saw lots of competition, with 155 on-track passes.
Palou, who captured the pole and started alongside Kirkwood, had an uncharacteristic issue in pit lane during his first stop. As he left his pit box, sliding and smoking his tires, his left-rear hit Mick Schumacher’s rear tire that was laid out in the pit box ahead of him. When his strategist Barry Wanser told him that he had a drive-through penalty for hitting pit equipment, he responded “No way!” That dropped him from second to 21st.
Another issue in the pits was when the left-front tire changer failed to put Palou’s tire on straight, taking extra precious seconds. Then, on Lap 122, Palou spun, damaging his front wing and left-rear suspension from contact with the wall.
“It hurts,” reflected Palou, who finished 20th, three laps down. “It was one of those races I really wanted to do good. Things happen. Glad (the problems) happened in the same day rather than spread out in different races. Not a good day for us.”
Kirkwood gained 42 points on title leader Palou, with three races remaining and 162 points possible in the fight for the 2026 championship. Palou has 553 points, followed by Kirkwood, 462, Lundgaard, 443, David Malukas, 411, and Pato O’Ward, 399.
Next up is the doubleheader weekend on the Milwaukee one-mile oval, on August 29 and 30, followed a week later by the Laguna Seca finale in Monterey, CA.
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