Fan Experience: Freedom 250

Our main focus here at Pit Pass Network is NASCAR; however, I wanted to highlight INDYCAR and share my first-hand experience at the Freedom 250 Grand Prix in Washington, D.C.

First, let me get this out of the way – you will not be reading anything political in this article. I put my name in the lottery draw for free tickets just like everyone else. I wasn’t expecting to get an e-mail telling me I had scored tickets after hearing how many people had entered the lottery. Trust me, I was pleasantly surprised when I read that I received four tickets, but they were for both days and located in the Stripes Zone. This section was located inside the streets they would be racing on. Thank you to Roger Penske and the sponsoring companies for offering this to people!

I looked at this past weekend as a way to spend time with family and be a part of a historic event.

While my brother and I have both attended INDYCAR races in the past, this was to be the first for my niece and nephew.

Trust me, my niece wasn’t exactly jumping for joy about being there, but it will be something she can tell people about the rest of her life! I’m sure there were many others there for the same reason.

The Sights

All I saw around the National Mall both days were American flags and red, white, and blue decorations. There were people from all 50 states and numerous other countries to enjoy this special event. Everyone was nice to each other, sharing space at the fence and on the lawn, and giving directions. I never had a less-than-stellar interaction with any of the volunteer staff or any member of security.

You could definitely tell the difference between race fans and people who were there for a unique experience. The race fans were decked out in their driver’s apparel. I also saw many NASCAR shirts – there was a whole group of Chase Elliott fans walking around Sunday.

I’ve found over the years that race fans genuinely enjoy different forms of motorsports, so I wasn’t shocked to see fans wearing NASCAR, IMSA, and F1 apparel. The majority of others were wearing patriotic outfits to fit with the America 250 theme. It was awesome to see.

Race Weekend

We rode Amtrak to and from Washington, D.C. and used the Metro in the city. Our hotel was two blocks from the Metro, and it dropped us three blocks from where we entered the gates. This saved a ton of walking! We went through scanning our tickets and security very quickly both days. I read through all the rules, what was and wasn’t allowed ahead of time, and it made it very easy with the clear bag policy. I never felt unsafe at any point.

There were so many military and police around the venue; no one I heard took issue with that. If anything, you heard people applauding the extra manpower. On Sunday, the Metro had extra cars running and workers helping visitors by answering questions and getting people moving quickly. Having the two or three blocks around the perimeter gates as foot traffic only was fantastic; no waiting to cross the streets and people weren’t clogging up the sidewalks.

The fan zone area was well thought out. Food and beverages were on one side, and large TV screens and merchandise haulers on the other. In the middle were tents with tables and chairs and tons of picnic tables with umbrellas.

There were a few sponsor setups. For example, Chevrolet had display cars and where they were giving away fans to people. I saw some military displays with vehicles. There were also rows of porta-johns all over, and the water refill stations were spread out. They had set up a ton of lawn games in the grass for people to play in between action on the streets. We enjoyed the cornhole, even though I played terribly.

I give huge props to all the volunteers; I never saw overflowing trash cans or trash out in the grass or on the sidewalks. They were coming around and cleaning up around people. They kept the porta-johns clean and stocked, and the handwashing stations were always usable. The areas for water refills were never empty, and we refilled numerous times both days.

The Air and Space Museum, National Gallery of Art, and Museum of the American Indian were in the Stripes Zone and open for fans to go through, use the restrooms, and get food at their cafes. This offered people something to do that you wouldn’t normally have at a racetrack. I called it ‘viewing a race and getting cultured.’

Pre-Race

On Saturday, we moved around multiple times to watch IROC and INDYCAR practice from different viewpoints. We watched the two IROC races and INDYCAR qualifying from the lawn.

On Sunday before the race, there were six military flyovers as well as a parade with bands from all military branches. People seemed to love the music and cheered them on.

For those of us lined up along the fence waiting for the race to start, it was nice to have something to break up the downtime. About every 10 minutes, we were either looking up or watching a group go by.

When the Presidential motorcade came around, everyone was waving and taking pictures of President Trump.

For many people, I think that was the first time they had been that close to seeing a President before. No matter who is in office, that is always something special to see and was a hit with the crowd!

We staked out seats on the steps at the back of the Air and Space Museum, which was located on a straightaway between turns five and six. Hundreds of others did the same.

The weather on Saturday was fantastic, mid-70s and cloudy with a breeze on and off. Sunday was mid-80s with full sun most of the day. People cheered when a big cloud came and blocked the sun for about 20 minutes. I joked and said we went to a race in Washington, D.C., and no one bought a souvenir; all we brought home with us were sunburns!

Pros & Cons

I will give kudos to whoever decided to pair IROC with INDYCAR for the weekend. There were fans super excited to see their former favorite driver race again. The line Saturday for autographs was extremely long, and people stood for hours trying to score a signature and picture. Personally, I was excited to see Helio Castroneves race again. He made it exciting Saturday afternoon, mixing it up with Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch for the IROC win.

The Sights

Since I have been to road races in the past, I knew what to expect as far as seeing the cars on the street. You move around to get different views, and you will only see cars once a lap. Street courses can be even worse than that. The problem when you are short like I am, standing against a fence doesn’t help. When the cars are so low to the ground, you barely see the tops coming by because of the concrete barrier.

Unfortunately, there were only a handful of temporary grandstands and viewing platforms. I don’t know if that was because of restrictions, permits, or just lack of time to set up everything. People were five and six deep against the fences, kids were on parents’ shoulders, and others were climbing walls and over fences to find ledges and anything higher than sidewalks to catch a view of the drivers racing by.

I felt like there were plenty of locations where they could have put up additional smaller grandstands, and there should have been more viewing platforms in places where grandstands weren’t an option.

I was also disappointed that the National Archives building was blocked off for fans. It was in a perfect location between two turns where hundreds of fans could have sat on the steps and had a great view of the race. If it had been an option, that is where I would have chosen to sit. There also should have been more TV screens and speakers around the fences.

On Sunday, we watched across the track for the official to put out the flags so we knew if we were green or under yellow. Otherwise, we had no idea unless we pulled information up on our phone.

Concessions

Another con on the weekend was the concessions. Saturday, the lines weren’t terrible. We waited about 30 minutes from getting in line to getting our food, but Sunday was pretty bad. There should have been double the amount of food and drink vendors in the Stripes area.

Instead of waiting in the sun, we opted to go into the Gallery of Art and grabbed pre-made sandwiches and salads from one of the cafes. We waited in line behind three people to pay; it was air-conditioned, and we used the clean, public restrooms. My nephew and I would have sat in the cafe to eat and possibly grabbed some gelato, but my brother and niece were holding our seats outside.

Everyone was happy with having cold food, fresh water, and the price was about the same as the outside vendors. This was a win in my book.

More people should have thought about going into the museums to use the bathrooms, enjoying a bit of air conditioning, and grabbing food. The options were completely different at the cafes than what was offered outside. I will say my BBQ Loaded Tots from the BBQ tent on Saturday were delicious!

Final Thoughts

Overall, the pros outweighed the few cons for the weekend. I’m glad we were able to go – it really was a super cool experience. The National Mall was a great choice. There were plenty of trees for shade if you wanted to step away from the street and take a rest. They were able to space things out and still keep walkways open for spectators. It didn’t feel cramped even though there were over 100,000 people there, which was a huge plus.

The views were amazing from the lawn; you looked one way to the Capitol Building and the other way had the Washington Monument. You’ll never have a view like that again!

This past weekend definitely felt special and gave a totally different vibe than any other race I have ever attended – you could feel it in the air. Between the flyovers, the patriotic decor, the uniqueness of the venue, and the diversity of the crowd, it all culminated into a weekend that could never be replicated again.

The cherry on top of the Freedom 250 cake was seeing Kyle Kirkwood, an American driver, win! It made everything I experienced that much sweeter.