Kyle Kirkwood wins Freedom 250 Grand Prix IndyCar race in the streets of Washington, D.C., after Trump kicks off race

Kyle Kirkwood gave the Freedom 250 an American winner, racing to his second victory of the IndyCar season on the streets of downtown Washington, D.C., in a dominant performance Sunday.

Will Power and Marcus Ericsson, Kirkwood’s teammates with Andretti Global, finished third and fourth.

Pole winner Alex Palou, who had a chance to clinch the series title, finished 20th in his second-worst showing of the year.

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump began the Freedom 250 Grand Prix IndyCar race with a slow lap around the course.

Then the president kicked off the race, waving the green flag as drivers began whipping through the capital city’s downtown, including a stretch along Pennsylvania Avenue not too far from the White House.

After Trump’s green flag, the field quickly went under caution because of debris in Turn 4. The first big wreck came when David Malukas went into the wall and Sting Ray Robb could do little to avoid crashing into him coming around a turn. Just like that, two of the race’s eight American drivers were out.

Several cars went onto pit road, and that’s when the day started to fall apart for Palou. He appeared to hit a tire in someone else’s area while exiting, and he was assessed a drive-through penalty.

Later, on another pit stop, one of Palou’s tires was loose when he started driving. That caused another delay, and he ended up off the lead lap. Palou later spun coming through a turn. His lead in the standings dropped from 133 points over second-place Kirkwood to 91 with three races to go.

Kirkwood had a commanding lead before Palou’s spin caused a caution. On a restart with 19 laps remaining, Scott McLaughlin tried to pass Kirkwood and went into a tire barrier. Then Kirkwood pulled off a strong restart with 13 laps to go and Lundgaard didn’t mount much of a threat as the 250-mile race wound down.

Marcus Armstrong was penalized for avoidable contact when he sent Christian Rasmussen into a spin. Rinus VeeKay went into the wall during that incident but appeared unaware of Armstrong’s culpability when he went on TV for an interview.

“If Rasmussen’s around, you know you’re going to crash. Either he does or you do,” VeeKay said. “It sucks. It’s stupid. It’s a long race, and some people seemingly don’t know that.” 

The open-wheel race, with cars whizzing past Washington’s monuments at speeds approaching 200 mph, was the latest of Mr. Trump’s celebrations this year to mark America’s 250th birthday.

The celebrations ahead of the race included a performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by tenor Christopher Macchio, a favorite singer of the president, and a military aircraft flyover featuring a B-2 stealth bomber and the Qatar-gifted Air Force One, escorted by four fighter jets.

Mr. Trump in his second term has increasingly seemed to focus on relishing the presidency’s ceremonial aspects. That’s included a healthy dose of visits to sporting events — including an appearance last month at the World Cup final, where he presented the trophy to winner Spain and lingered onstage with the team as its members jumped in a hail of confetti.

IndyCar series owner Roger Penske, a longtime friend of Mr. Trump’s who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from him in 2019, helped lead the effort to bring the race to Washington.

Mr. Trump told Fox on Sunday that Penske told him that he had been trying to bring the race to Washington for 20 years.

“When he came to see Trump, it got done in about 15 minutes, and it’s turned out to be much bigger than we ever even thought possible,” the president said, referring to himself in the third person.

An executive order Mr. Trump signed earlier this year calling for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix declared that the “cars and drivers inspire awe and respect in all who watch this quintessentially American sport,” and the event will “showcase the majesty of our great city as drivers navigate a track around our iconic national monuments in celebration of America’s 250th birthday.”

IndyCar is one of the world’s leading open-wheel racing series, generally regarded as second only to Formula 1 in global popularity and prestige. The series is among the fastest racing categories, with cars capable of reaching 230 mph. Its premier event is the Indianapolis 500, one of three races that constitute the “triple crown of motorsport.”