The Grand Prix that converted Washington, D.C.’s streets into a 180-mph speedway to celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial could return annually if some top government leaders get their way.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News from a TV set overseeing the race track Sunday that he plans to push for the race to return to Washington.
“I want to bring it back next year,” Johnson said. “I want to make it an annual event, so we’ll see if we can.”
Johnson spun confidence in Republicans’ chances of keeping the House in November’s midterms and the power to drive the race into an annual event.
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“If we have any say in it,” Johnson said when asked to clarify if an annual Grand Prix is a possibility. “We’ll be in the majority and I’ll be pushing for that.”
When Interior Secretary Doug Burgum was asked about Johnson’s comments, he told Fox News there’s “nothing to announce yet” but added that August, when Congress is typically in recess, is a “perfect time of year to do it.”
“From an economic development for our capital city, hotels, restaurants, the people of Washington, D.C., the greater capital region, all love this idea,” Burgum said. “Everybody I’ve met is saying ‘Please, please do this again next year.’”
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has indicated that this “first ever” race could be “followed by second and third,” but she will be out of office come January. The city handled some repaving ahead of the race, according to The Associated Press — though Penske, the transportation services giant, is footing most of the bill for the Grand Prix.
Bud Denker, president of Penske Corporation who’s also chairing the race, hasn’t committed to holding future events in the District.
“It is the first ever,” Denker said, according to the AP. “It might be the only.”
Trump has touted the race he says nothing can “ever top” as part of the wave of events that took over the capital this summer, including the UFC fight at the White House and the Great American State Fair on the National Mall.
Denker has said the cost of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix “far exceeds” Penske’s roughly $22 million budget for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.
“Well, we’re in Detroit, and Detroit’s a $21-$22 million budget. This far exceeds that,” Denker told NBC4.
Denker said Penske is paying “the vast majority of this bill” but some of the funds are coming from sponsors he’s setting up in suites near the race.
“This isn’t a break-even operation, and we didn’t intend it to be,” Denker added.
To convert downtown D.C.’s streets into a high-speed track for 25 racers to traverse 250 miles around and around the 1.7-mile loop, Denker said about 49 manholes had to be outfitted with silicone covers so the speed of the IndyCars can’t suck the plates out of place.
Denker praised the roads’ condition, saying they’re in “pretty good shape,” but some of the track needed fixing to the tune of just under $3 million.
Freedom 250 and Penske did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NOTUS.
Trump took an honorary lap around the track ahead of Sunday’s race, as U.S. military planes, including the jet that is normally designated Air Force One, conducted flyovers. The president also waved the green flag to kick off the race.
Trump has been very enthusiastic about the Freedom 250 Grand Prix and the other events marking the nation’s 250th birthday, but he has yet to publicly throw his full support behind making the race an annual event.
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