There are 17 races this year. There are lots of challenges with adding a venue. One of the biggest challenges has been media coverage. But this year, they have a strong contract with Fox Sports.

The race in the Capitol will be August 23.

ReRe

(12,200 posts)

6. Well..

Reply to Bluetus (Reply #5)

Wed Jul 1, 2026, 06:13 PM

1 hr ago

I don't have an answer, so carry on and never mind me.

Bluetus

(3,359 posts)

7. The Indy 500 is one race in the series of 17 races

Reply to ReRe (Reply #6)

Wed Jul 1, 2026, 06:39 PM

46 min ago

Last edited Wed Jul 1, 2026, 07:25 PM - Edit history (2)

But it is the most famous and largest one-day sporting event. Most people aren't aware of the rest of the series, but it is gaining a following a little each year.

Roger Penske bought the Indy 500 track and the whole series a few years ago and has been making steady progress. Before then, it was family owned, and was always the Indy 500 plus a weird collection of other races to make some money for the teams the other 11 months of the year. Penske has been building this as a real series.

I know many of us here are pretty tired of rich business people like Musk, Ellison, and Zuckerberg who make most of their wealth by stock market manipulation. I will say I have a lot of admiration for Roger Penske. He is a smart guy who treats people right and makes a lot of good business decisions with a long term view. We would be a lot better off is people like Penske were the model instead of Musk and company.

When Penske bought the whole thing, I thought that was going to be very awkward because Penske has always had a team racing in the series. I figured people would fear that Penske would use his ownership to deal himself advantages. But that never happened. The other teams competed fiercely against the Penske teams. But when Penske bought it, they all were in support AFAIK. That says they respected his integrity.

When was the last time you heard the word "integrity" used by any of the national media?

MichMan

(17,674 posts)

11. Great man, both on and off the track

Reply to Bluetus (Reply #7)

Wed Jul 1, 2026, 07:05 PM

21 min ago

MichMan

(17,674 posts)

4. Tickets have been awarded to lucky fans.

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Wed Jul 1, 2026, 05:56 PM

1 hr ago

They were in high demand. It will be a full crowd

MichMan

(17,674 posts)

8. Gordon, Kanaan, Castroneves headline IROC race in DC ahead of IndyCar's Freedom 250

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Wed Jul 1, 2026, 06:49 PM

36 min ago

A support series race has been announced for IndyCar's Freedom 250 Grand Prix. The International Race of Champions (IROC) will hold a race on the street circuit in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 22, a day before the historic IndyCar race on the National Mall.

IndyCar legends and Indy 500 champions Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves and Dario Franchitti will compete in the race alongside NASCAR Cup Series champions Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Bobby Labonte, Rusty Wallace and Bill Elliott. The drivers will pilot IROC Pontiac Firebirds that the series used from 1996 to 2006.

IROC was created in 1973 by IndyCar owner Roger Penske, former NASCAR senior vice president of operations Les Richter and Mike Phelps. The stock car series typically ran four races per year and served as the North American equivalent of an auto racing all-star game, with most of IndyCar's legends from the 1970s and 1980s competing.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/gordon-kanaan-castroneves-headline-iroc-race-in-dc-ahead-of-indycar-s-freedom-250/ar-AA26wf4k?ocid=BingNewsSerp

MichMan

(17,674 posts)

9. IndyCar interested in returning to Washington DC for 2027 season

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Wed Jul 1, 2026, 06:51 PM

34 min ago

The NTT IndyCar Series is heading to Washington, D.C. On Sunday, August 23, IndyCar will race on the streets of Washington, D.C. to celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States of America. Even though IndyCar hasn't raced yet, they are already looking to compete there in 2027.

IndyCar is looking into the potential of turning Washington, D.C., into a multi-year event, as reported by Sports Business Journal's Adam Stern. The sport has done well with its schedule over the last few years, and Washington, D.C. is likely to be an amazing event.

Washington, D.C., was a late addition to the 2026 IndyCar schedule and figures to be one of the biggest races of the year outside of the 2026 Indianapolis 500. IndyCar will race in Washington, D.C., in under two months, but the sport is already looking to expand its contract.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/motorsports/indycar-interested-in-returning-to-washington-dc-for-2027-season/ar-AA26L1eN?ocid=BingNewsVerp

MichMan

(17,674 posts)

10. IndyCar receives massive tickets request ahead of Washington, DC race

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Wed Jul 1, 2026, 06:54 PM

31 min ago

A packed crowd could convene in Washington, D.C., for IndyCar's Freedom 250 Grand Prix this summer.

IndyCar recently closed the request period for free tickets to the two-day event scheduled for August 22 and 23. The 1.7-mile track will run along Pennsylvania Avenue and race by monuments such as the U.S. Capitol, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and National Gallery of Art. According to RACER's Marshall Pruett, Penske Entertainment president Bud Denker claimed that IndyCar was inundated with ticket requests.

"The ticket request process ended last Sunday at midnight; it went for nine days, from Friday till Sunday, and there were 288,000 ticket requests," Denker said. "If we’d left it open five more days, we'd be up to Indy 500 numbers. Now we’re going back to my office to start putting the filtration process into place in terms of who gets the tickets, because we can't accommodate 280,000 people. Even if we divide that by 140,000 people a day, we just can't process that many people happily through magnetometers."

Denker said half of the people given free tickets will witness the Freedom 250 from inside the track. The other half will watch from outside the circuit. “We call it the Stars & Stripes. Outside is called Stars, inside is called Stripes. It's on our website that way, and we're comfortable with 50,000 a day, inside and outside. So, effectively 100,000 people," Denker said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/indycar-receives-massive-tickets-request-ahead-of-washington-dc-race/ar-AA25dZwW?ocid=BingNewsVerp

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