WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The speed limit along Pennsylvania Avenue is 25 mph.<\/p>\n
But the open-wheel race cars roaring through the longest straightaway of the upcoming Washington IndyCar race<\/a> organized by President Donald Trump<\/a> could be going nearly eight times that fast.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we did that during the regular day, I think people would be put in jail, perhaps for the rest of their lives,\u201d Trump joked recently while hosting an IndyCar pit crew at the White House to hype the Freedom 250 Grand Prix.<\/p>\n The race, scheduled for Aug. 22 and 23, features vehicles that typically reach street-course speeds approaching 200 mph and have enough torque to tear off manhole covers. It is the latest \u2014 and the fastest \u2014 of the major events Trump has hosted against the backdrop of America\u2019s 250th birthday, a larger celebration he has made as much about himself as possible<\/a>.<\/p>\n The president staged a UFC fight<\/a> on the White House\u2019s South Lawn<\/a> for his 80th birthday in June and held a rally to kick off the Great American State Fair on the National Mall after most of the event\u2019s scheduled musical acts pulled out<\/a>. He headlined another rally for July Fourth on the National Mall, ahead of a massive fireworks display marking the semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence\u2019s signing.<\/p>\n Historian Michael D. Hattem said Trump\u2019s events have put little focus on \u201caddressing the specific history of the founding of the country or the 250th.\u201d White House spokesman Davis Ingle countered that Trump \u201cis focused on saving our country \u2014 not garnering recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump is \u201censuring that America gets the spectacular 250th birthday it deserves,\u201d Ingle said in a statement, adding that the series of events Trump has helped organize shows that \u201c2026 is sparking a renewal of patriotism and national pride\u201d under the president\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n Race preparations include securing manhole covers<\/p>\n The IndyCar event will be 250 miles (400 kilometers) over 147 laps on a 1.66-mile (2.67-kilometer) track featuring seven turns. Series owner Roger Penske, whom Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom<\/a> in 2019, led the effort to make the race happen in the District of Columbia. He gave the president a racing helmet, urging him to wear it \u201cwhen you\u2019re riding around in The Beast, leading the field to the green flag\u201d \u2014 a traditional prerace kickoff that may feature the presidential limo. <\/p>\n D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser suggested that the event was the \u201cfirst, to be followed by second and third,\u201d and Trump says he\u2019d like more Washington races in future years. But Bud Denker, president of Penske Corporation and the race\u2019s chair, isn\u2019t committing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is the first ever,\u201d he said. \u201cIt might be the only.\u201d <\/p>\n Denker said Penske is paying for the \u201cvast majority\u201d of the race, including road construction and improvements, while the city handles some \u201cvery limited\u201d repaving. The District of Columbia referred questions about repaving costs to Penske.<\/p>\n About a third of the track needs road improvement, a cost that should come in at under $3 million, Denker said. That\u2019s less than is often spent on road fixes ahead of other races, including in Markham, Ontario, where up to $9 million is being doled out on improvements for the IndyCar race being held the week before Washington\u2019s event, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe roads here are in pretty good shape,\u201d Denker said, noting that area residents are surprised when they hear him say that.<\/p>\n But that reflects the nature of the nation\u2019s capital: The stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to the U.S. Capitol is repaved every four years for presidential inaugurations. Another key area along Constitution Avenue was resurfaced after tanks rolled down it<\/a> for Trump\u2019s military parade marking July 4 last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n One issue, Denker said, is the 220-plus manhole covers on the race circuit that had to be welded to ensure the race cars don\u2019t suck them off the road. About 50 of those need to be fitted with silicone because they are set too deep into the road, creating a bump, he said.<\/p>\n Organizers also are paying to build 1,800 walls weighing 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms) each to ring the track and metal detectors that will be manned by the Secret Service.<\/p>\n Penske is relying on the federal departments of Interior and Transportation, Denker said, not for funding but for help with issues such as permitting, allowing Chevrolet to set up a car display and vendors to sell merchandise and beer on the National Mall \u2014 activities that aren\u2019t normally allowed.<\/p>\n The route features monuments and landmarks <\/p>\n The race will go in the rain, except in the event of lightning or if major puddling makes the track slippery. Denker said that 288,000 free tickets were requested through a lottery system \u2014 exceeding the 130,000 spectators whom organizers plan to host on each of the event\u2019s two days.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just going to be something we\u2019ve never seen before,\u201d said Denker, who said there will be 90 minutes of prerace show that Sunday and military flyovers like those that thundered over the National Mall for July 4.<\/p>\n Bob Varsha, a veteran sports announcer who long specialized in motorsports, said that a track running less than 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) is shorter than most street race courses and that Washington\u2019s design may feature 90-degree corners. That means cars likely won\u2019t be able to maintain top speeds. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a lot of speed up, slow down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a huge idea,\u201d Varsha said. \u201cAnd I hope it goes as well as it possibly can.\u201d <\/p>\n The track heads down Pennsylvania Avenue from 3rd Street to 9th Street NW, then doubles back to 7th Street, then goes south to Independence Avenue alongside the National Mall before looping back to 3rd Street. <\/p>\n Turn 1 has the U.S. Capitol\u2019s west fa\u00e7ade as its backdrop, while the pit lane is on the straightaway between Turn 1 and Turn 2, along Pennsylvania Avenue. Other sections feature views of the Washington Monument and the Smithsonian\u2019s National Air & Space Museum.<\/p>\n The race has been likened to 1801, but the historical record is spotty<\/p>\n Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Washington hasn\u2019t seen a race like this since Thomas Jefferson helped mark America\u2019s 25th birthday on July 4, 1801.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when the north grounds of President\u2019s Park were thronged with booths, and attending crowds watched horse racing and cockfighting, according to the White House Historical Association. Jefferson eventually opened the White House and \u201cinvited everyone in to partake of his hospitality,\u201d with ordinary people joining military officers and visiting Cherokee chiefs inside, the association said. <\/p>\n But Hattem, who has written extensively on how the U.S. has celebrated its independence, said that, the association\u2019s account aside, contemporary descriptions of that celebration didn\u2019t mention horse racing. He also said that Washington then was a sparsely populated swamp with the White House but very little actual city, meaning there wasn\u2019t much infrastructure for such races. <\/p>\n Instead, Hattem said, accounts from 1801 focused on how Jefferson \u2014 the first president from the Democratic-Republican Party \u2014 handled July 4 celebrations differently than his predecessors, George Washington and John Adams, who favored the Federalist Party\u2019s backing of a strong central government and close ties to Great Britain.<\/p>\n Jefferson\u2019s festivities were more utilitarian and, according to the National Intelligencer newspaper, offered \u201cno ostentatious homage to power.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThat is a strong contrast between then and the present,\u201d Hattem said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The speed limit along Pennsylvania Avenue is 25 mph. 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