In the shade of a few trees on the National Mall, Joe Manchin III was struggling to put on his car racing fire suit.
The former senator from West Virginia didn’t seem to mind. He was just excited to go for a ride — as fast as possible, he said — in an IndyCar around the downtown Washington racecourse where drivers will compete this weekend in the Freedom 250 Grand Prix.
“I love cars,” said the 78-year-old, who famously lived on a houseboat during his time in Congress. “If it’s got four wheels, I’m good.”
Manchin was among dozens of Washington bigwigs who gathered Friday morning near the National Gallery of Art and the U.S. Capitol, for the chance to whiz around the 1.66-mile, 7-turn racetrack with a professional driver behind the wheel.
“It’s pure adrenaline,” Karen Denker, whose husband is the brother of Penske Corp. president Bud Denker, said in an interview after her ride.
A small group — including Manchin, Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin — zipped around in IndyCars. Everyone else, including this reporter, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), and various lobbyists, took their turns riding shotgun in red, white and blue Chevrolet Corvettes.
Passengers put on safety collars for head and neck support and helmets and eagerly waited their turn to speed around the course.
“Locked and loaded,” Chris Seed, New Zealand’s ambassador to the U.S., said when he put on his helmet. Every few minutes, cars screeched away to zoom around the course. The smell of burning rubber filled the air.
“That was fun,” Ingraham told Manchin after her ride. “It’s a thrill,” the former senator said.
Manchin’s aim to go fast was a common one among participants. “Light it up,” said Jeff Shockey, who runs government relations for Boeing, an event sponsor.
President Donald Trump established the race through an executive order in January. It marks the final major summer event in D.C. organized through Freedom 250, the public-private partnership that the White House launched to celebrate the nation’s birthday and that Trump has turned into a pillar of his second term. Officials predict more than 140,000 people will attend the event each day.
On Sunday, drivers will race at speeds as high as 185 mph as they go around the course 147 times. On Friday, the Corvettes went upward of 130 mph. “It’s pretty incredible to go that fast,” Bowser said after her ride.
On my ride around the course, driver Andrew Abbott got us up to 136 mph. Abbott, 36, who said he started racing cars when he was 5 years old, accelerated the white Corvette down Pennsylvania Avenue. After waiting outside, I was grateful for the car’s air conditioning.
With the Washington Monument looming in the distance, we sped past museums, the Canadian embassy and Capital Grille. Abbott wore American flag gloves as he calmly handled the course’s twists and tight turns. I couldn’t stop laughing.
Unbothered by traffic lights, stop signs or speed cameras, we careened around the corner by the National Archives Museum, flew down Seventh Street NW and then veered east on Independence Avenue. The Mall was a blur.
After about 90 seconds, we were back where we started. Adrenaline was high, my helmet was squishing my face. I wanted to go again.
After his ride, Burgum said it’s not just the speed that’s impressive. “It’s also the braking and the reflexes,” he said. “It’s going to be a wild, wild, ride, but anybody that can drive 147 laps is an athlete.”
Being an IndyCar driver requires significant athletic ability, said David Ferguson, a Michigan State University associate professor who studies the health of the sport’s drivers.
The steering wheel and brake pedal require a lot of force, and the cockpit can reach around 120 degrees Fahrenheit, Ferguson said. “That is extremely physically exhausting,” he said. “It’s all extremely dangerous. It’s a massive physical toll.”
Beth Boles, the wife of IndyCar president Doug Boles, said she hoped Washington would host races again in the future. “This city is unbelievable,” Boles said. “The streets are beautiful. And to drive past all these monuments is amazing.”
After their rides, some participants said they wished they could do another lap. The New Zealand ambassador couldn’t stop smiling.
“It was just marvelous,” Seed said. “Fastest ride I’ve ever done around Washington.”
The post ‘Pure adrenaline’: What 136 mph feels like on D.C.’s Grand Prix course appeared first on Washington Post.
