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

IndyCar will hold its first-ever Washington, D.C. race this weekend as part of Freedom 250, a Trump-affiliated 250th-anniversary event created by executive order after the bill failed to clear the Senate. Drivers and Penske Corporation president Bud Denker told Courthouse News the race is nonpartisan, citing Denker's 81 stakeholder meetings and plans to seat both parties in his suite.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has used the race to promote White House policy, and the National Mall has been closed for months for preparations. Denker offered the absence of protests or lawsuits as further proof of goodwill, comparing it favorably to the UFC event held on the White House South Lawn in June.

Driver Patricio O'Ward, whose car number was used without permission in a Department of Homeland Security-created image promoting an immigration detention facility, joked about the episode when asked. DHS had called IndyCar's objections to the unauthorized use 'absurd' before quietly deleting the image.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.