US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump rode a ceremonial lap in his armoured limousine and waved the green flag to start Sunday\u2019s IndyCar race through the streets of Washington, capping celebrations of America\u2019s 250th birthday.<\/p>\n
Trump, who created the Freedom 250 Grand Prix by executive order as part of the United States anniversary commemoration, had a prime view of the spectacle as open-wheel cars roared past iconic landmarks at speeds up to 185 mph (298 km\/h).<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has turned out to be bigger than we ever thought possible,\u201d Trump told race telecaster Fox. \u201cThe track is wonderful. I want everyone to be safe and the people to have a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump greeted IndyCar series owner Roger Penske (89) and the seven Indianapolis 500 winners in the field of 25 before the 147-lap event began, telling the racers, \u201cGood luck, do well, have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRoger told me they had been trying to do it for 20 years and when Trump came along they got it done,\u201d the 80-year-old president said.<\/p>\n
Trump was inside his armoured limousine known as \u201cThe Beast\u201d as the vehicle and his motorcade slowly took a lap around the 1.7-mile layout, which weaves around such landmarks as the Washington Monument, the National Archives, and Smithsonian museums including the National Gallery of Art.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe president wanted to do this. He\u2019s a big fan. We wanted to be part of the 250th anniversary,\u201d Penske said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is really a by-product of our team trying to take it to the next level. This is an iconic race.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flyovers were next, including ones by a stealth bomber and Air Force One, and air traffic was paused at nearby Reagan National Airport due to the race.<\/p>\n
Trump then waved the green flag at the start-finish line in front of the US Capitol building to begin the 250-mile race.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 100,000 people who will be coming here today, they care about the country,\u201d Penske said. \u201cThey are excited to see us racing here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump has taken major roles in other events to celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776, marking the split of 13 original American colonies from Britain.<\/p>\n
Among the activities was an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bout in a huge cage on the White House lawn in June.<\/p>\n
Spanish pole-sitter Alex Palou, a six-time winner this year, can clinch his fourth consecutive IndyCar season title and fifth in six years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s incredible,\u201d Palou said of the event. \u201cFor sure surpassed all my expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n
IndyCar and Penske Racing are paying much of the $35 million (\u20ac29.92 million) cost to stage the grand prix, supported by sponsors to boost attention for a series best known for the Indianapolis 500 oval classic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an Indy 500 on the street track,\u201d said New Zealand driver Scott McLaughlin.\n<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s a spectacle\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kyle Kirkwood was overjoyed at racing around the capital city.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrilled to be driving around these amazing streets,\u201d Kirkwood said. \u201cIt\u2019s a big moment as an American to be able to drive around DC. It\u2019s an event that America is putting on and something that\u2019s very special.\u201d<\/p>\n
It figures to be a once-in-a-lifetime extravaganza.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if we\u2019ll ever drive IndyCars around the nation\u2019s capital again, so the fact we\u2019re doing it is a spectacle,\u201d US racer Josef Newgarden said. \u201cThis feels like the Indy 500.\u201d<\/p>\n
Penske said IndyCar would consider a US capital return.<\/p>\n
\u201cNever say no. We\u2019ll talk about it,\u201d Penske said. \u201cWe\u2019ll have to meet next week and figure out where we\u2019re going next.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like much of what happens in Washington, it isn\u2019t entirely smooth runnings on the streets. Pavement bumps around the course are expected to challenge drivers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bumps are so big. There\u2019s not much you can do,\u201d Palou said before the race. \u201cYou need to have a car that\u2019s all right over bumps, that\u2019s not trying to kill you every time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump rode a ceremonial lap in his armoured limousine and waved the green flag to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":652788,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[76],"tags":[275880,275881,18,19,21597,17,132,187,107],"class_list":["post-652787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-armoured-limousine","tag-car-race","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-indycar","tag-ireland","tag-sports","tag-trump","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117146797083272897","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/652788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}