Everything To Know About INDYCAR Freedom 250: A Spectacle & Endurance Test

Wait a minute, INDYCAR is racing where? Yes, the streets of Washington, D.C. But not near the Capitol, right? Well, across the street. And by the Washington Monument and Smithsonian? Yup. That’s sick. In what is guaranteed to be a spectacle, INDYCAR drivers will navigate a 1.7-mile, seven-turn course on streets well known to the world, including Pennsylvania Avenue (the course does not reach The White House) and through the National Mall on Sunday afternoon. The FOX prerace show will begin at 11:30 a.m. ET on Sunday with the green flag scheduled for 1:13 p.m. ET. Here’s what to know about the Freedom 250 this weekend. Where Is The Course? The start-finish line is across from The Capitol on 3rd Street. It then takes a left on Pennsylvania Avenue — a street wide enough to include a pit road. There then will be a left on 9th, a left on Constitution Avenue and then a right on 7th where the Washington Monument will be in the backdrop. The cars then take a left on Independence Avenue by the Smithsonian to get back to 3rd Street. How Long Is The Race? Loooooong. The race, at 250 miles, is the longest street race since some of the early Cleveland airport races in the mid-1980s. The race will likely be close to three hours instead of the usual two hours. “It very well will be a three-hour race,” ECR driver Alexander Rossi told me and other reporters last week. “It’s awesome. We have a four-[pit] stop street race. That’s just really cool. “It opens up the strategy and what you can do and the variables that go along into that.” For comparison, here is the length (in miles) of the other five street courses on the INDYCAR circuit. Arlington: 191Markham: 189St. Petersburg: 180Long Beach: 177Detroit: 164 “It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be super long, especially on a street course where the races already feel long and there’s so much going on,” series points leader and three-time series defending champion Alex Palou told me and other reporters last week. “It will be like an endurance race, a survival race, where we just need to be able to stay alive, keep our nose clean and get to the end. It will be fun. It’ll be super challenging for everyone, and hopefully we’re good there.” So Will That Be A Problem? Maybe. “I kind of look forward to it because I love those sort of challenges,” Andretti Global Will Power told me and other reporters last week. “That last 50 [laps] will be pretty tough. I think once you see the end coming, things just get easier because you know you’re going to get there. “You’re probably going to be at the halfway point going, at [lap] 70 or 75, ‘We’ve got another 75 to go? Oh my God.’” Will The Heat Be A Concern? For sure. Well, the humidity. The mugginess of Washington, D.C., will make this a miserable race for the drivers. They train for it and they have cool shirts — shirts where cold water is bumped through to keep them cool — but the current INDYCAR is incredibly hot because it wasn’t built with the current aeroscreen in mind. “The humidity makes it much tougher because the cooling is just nowhere near as efficient — you go from St. Pete to Long Beach, it’s about the same temperature, but the difference of physicality is massive just because of the humidity,” Power said. Drivers do train during the offseason and then throughout the year to be able to handle the high temperatures. “I’m sure there’s going to be drivers out there that fall out of the seat, there’s no doubt,” Penske driver Scott McLaughlin told me and other reporters last week. “But at the same time, you feel like you train for this and get ready for it.” As of Tuesday, the forecast is for a heat index in the upper-80s. Not great but certainly not as hot as it was in Washington in the last month. “It’s going to test us for sure,” Pato O’Ward told me last week. “When you build in the humidity and the heat, that’s what makes it tougher. We don’t get a lot of fresh air into these races. “Some guys are going to feel it. I think we’re all going to feel it. There’s some that are going to feel it much more than others. Will It Be Physical? Oh, yes. These cars do not have power steering. It will test their arm strength. What About Pit Crews? The pit crews will be tested, too. Typically, the debate on the street courses is whether there will be two or three stops. This race likely will have four pit stops. Did They Adjust The Schedule? A little bit. Typically, on street and road courses, INDYCAR has one practice Friday, another practice and qualifying Saturday and race on Sunday. But to limit disruptions in the city, they are only on track Saturday and Sunday. That will put both practice and qualifying on Saturday. Ironically, because the track last weekend in Markham wasn’t finished on Friday, the schedule ended up being the same as it will be this weekend in Washington. The schedule means limited time in evaluating data and deciding on the changes to improve the car to get ready to race. “Markham being a two-day event was hard for everyone but at least we got a taste of it,” Andretti Global driver Kyle Kirkwood told me Monday. “We kind of understand what the cadence needs to be on a street course to be ready for qualifying at the end of the day on Saturday. “It’s going to be hard. It’s not going to be easy for anybody, but we got a taste of it last weekend, so it might actually help.” Will The D.C. Course Be Ready? All indications are that Penske Entertainment, which is handling this race (and also operates INDYCAR, promotes street races at Detroit and Long Beach and owns Indianapolis Motor Speedway), is on good pace. There are streets that they don’t get access to until this week, which isn’t rare for a street event. For instance, when NASCAR raced in Chicago, it didn’t get full access to Michigan Avenue until the day before the race. Will President Trump Be There? Yes. What Other Parts Of The Spectacle Will Be Cool? Don’t want to give everything away. But among the pagentary, this race will have an epic flyover. Will It Be A Good Race? Don’t know. This is part race and part spectacle. And it depends on who you talk to on whether that matters. “It’s the fact that this a race that is a showcase for our series and the nation,” Rossi said. “That’s really cool.” Of course, a good race makes it even a little more of a showcase. “Ultimately, we’re in the entertainment business, and if we’re not entertaining, then our jobs are going to be no longer,” Kirkwood said. “This is obviously going to be an event that a lot of people around the world, particularly in America, are going to be watching. … We want it to be a good competition, something that gets people jazzed up for INDYCAR.” But It’s Important To Win, Right? Yes, for two reasons. Drivers always want to win. But this also most likely will be the only time they race on this circuit. “I’m a competitor — I want to win the race,” two-time INDYCAR champion Josef Newgarden told me Monday. “I want my team to be successful, but I want the series to be successful, and I want to get as many eyeballs on the sport as possible. “I’m hoping that this D.C. event will draw more attention to our sport, which will draw more interest. As a driver, I’m going to be focused on the competition side more than anything. Everything else around it will sort of take care of itself.” Will There Be A Freedom 251? While the Washington, D.C., area potentially could have another race, it most likely wouldn’t be on this circuit. “It’s an event that as soon as it was announced, you were counting the days until you get to do it,” Rossi said. “As we all know, it’s probably going to be a one-and-done thing. “So I’m just super looking forward to getting there and experiencing it and doing something that very few people will get to do.”