IndyCar Freedom 250 organizers open-minded about event's future

It was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime event, with untold millions spent and 100,000 free tickets given away for IndyCar's Freedom 250 Washington D.C. Grand Prix, which isn’t a sustainable long-term business model. But the impact made with the event has definitely led to inquiries of whether it’s possible for the IndyCar Series to make a return to the nation’s capital and hold more races in the greater DMV area.

Event chairman Bud Denker says he’ll consult with his boss, Roger Penske, and President Donald J. Trump, to explore the series’ options for 2027 and beyond.

“I've been saying, so has Roger, let's see how it goes, the first year,” Denker said. “As Dana White said after the (Freedom 250) UFC fight (in June), these are very expensive propositions in this city. It was for him, and it was for us. You don't raise the kind of revenue to cover your costs.

“Roger and I will talk about it. Mr. Trump hit me 15 times today about having to have this. His view is interesting. Interesting, his strategy. Let's do it for five years, is what he's saying, because that guarantees you're going to be here through my term, then two more years for whoever is in office next. That's his strategy. It's pretty good. He's thinking. He's a thinker. He's a smart guy.”

Denker is one of many who hopes the Freedom 250 has created a significant number of new IndyCar fans who will begin following the series on a regular basis.

“This has got to do something for our sport,” he said. “When I was around the motorcade, I got a video of it, I had my window down, the people were 15 deep around 7th Street. They were clamoring for a picture with Mr. Trump. Isn't that motorcade impressive? Gives you goose bumps when you have eight cars coming at you, one of the them is the President.

“We got a lot of new IndyCar fans here. We sold yesterday (Saturday) over $969,000 of merchandise. We sold in Arlington $900,000 for the whole week. We got a lot of new fans.”