In the halls of Congress, IndyCar drivers say they’re not pressed about politics before DC race

IndyCar’s one-off race in the nation’s capital has drawn criticism for its close association with the Trump administration, but drivers competing in the race say the event is bipartisan — and so is the hype.WASHINGTON (CN) — IndyCar drivers who will take to the streets of Washington, D.C., this weekend for a unique race said Thursday that they’re not feeling the political implications of the event, one that has been closely tied to the Trump administration and the president himself.And, as they gathered in the halls of Congress, one driver competing in IndyCar’s “Freedom 250 Grand Prix” told Courthouse News he’d come to the nation’s capital expecting partisan politics — but was pleasantly surprised by what he found instead.IndyCar, the open-wheel racing series best known for the Indy 500, will put on its first-ever race in D.C. this weekend in conjunction with Freedom 250, the Trump-affiliated organization that’s put together several big-ticket events for the U.S.’ 250th anniversary. The race has been billed as a nonpartisan celebration of America’s birthday — but critics have argued the White House’s promotion of the event and IndyCar’s close ties to the Trump administration tell a different story.In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing the D.C. Grand Prix after it became clear Congress would not have enough votes to approve it. Since then, members of the administration such as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have used the race as a springboard to promote the White House policy agenda.But, speaking to Courthouse News on Thursday, IndyCar executives and drivers said they didn’t see the political valence of this weekend’s race as a serious impediment — and the event enjoyed more bipartisan support than the discourse around it might suggest.Bud Denker, president of Penske Corporation, said he planned to have “leaders” from both the Democratic and Republican parties in his suite at the D.C. race. “I’m going to have both sides of the aisle there, and that, to me, shows that I’ve been able to keep it pretty much bipartisan,” he added.Denker spent most of a year traveling in and out of Washington to organize the Freedom 250 Grand Prix and attended 81 stakeholder meetings to put the event together, a fact he brings up frequently in interviews and public remarks. The Penske president said he initially tried to convince Congress to pass a bill approving the race but instead turned to executive action from Trump when it became clear he couldn’t meet a key procedural threshold in the Senate.He told Courthouse News on Thursday that his efforts to get Congress on board should be emblematic of IndyCar’s bipartisan outlook on the race.“Anybody who’s seen me on Capitol Hill in those 81 meetings, you’ve seen me across the aisle in all stages of it,” said Denker.Graham Rahal, driver of the No. 15 Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, said he’d experienced the opposite of a partisan divide when he came to Washington to meet with lawmakers ahead of this weekend’s race.“What I saw with my own eyes was Democrats and Republicans together, pumped up about this weekend,” he told reporters. “That was actually very refreshing, I must add, because when I came here that week, I didn’t know if that would be the tone.”Rahal said that while the political arena has been “quite polarizing,” he’d only seen energy and excitement from members of Congress and people living in and around the D.C. area.“The citizens of this area — the Uber drivers — everybody I talked to couldn’t wait for this weekend,” he said. “That’s the recipe for success.”Denker offered another view on the local community’s support for the D.C. race: a lack of protest activity.“We saw that for UFC across Constitution Avenue,” he said, alluding to the controversial Ultimate Fighting Championship event that took place on the South Lawn of the White House in June. “We have heard nothing from anyone about any kind of protesting happening at our event. We haven’t been sued for having our event here.”Access to the National Mall, where most of IndyCar’s 1.7-mile street circuit will run, has been heavily restricted for months amid preparations for this weekend and renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.“There’s a different air about motorsports that we’re bringing here,” Denker said.Patricio O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren’s IndyCar team, similarly told Courthouse News that the Freedom 250 race was an “amazing opportunity for an event of this scale to bring everybody together and experience motorsports.”“There are not only all Americans here,” said O’Ward, who hails from Monterrey, Mexico. “There’s so many different ethnicities and people from all around the world, and I think that’s actually such a beautiful thing to be able to have this weekend.”O’Ward has had his own inadvertent brush with the Trump administration’s political agenda. Last summer, the Department of Homeland Security found itself at odds with IndyCar when it shared a promotional image for a planned immigration detention facility in Indiana that featured one of the series’ iconic race cars with a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-inspired paint job. The AI-generated vehicle featured O’Ward’s racing number.IndyCar demanded that DHS stop using its intellectual property to promote the detention center. The agency refused, telling Courthouse News at the time that the notion it had infringed on the championship’s intellectual property rights was “absurd.” DHS later deleted the image with O’Ward’s racing number but later posted a different AI-generated image of IndyCar vehicles racing on track.Asked about that incident on Thursday, O’Ward offered a brief reply. “Maybe they were manifesting a W for me this weekend,” he quipped to Courthouse News. “That would be good.”The Freedom 250 Grand Prix will take place Sunday, with other on-track activity throughout the weekend.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads