Kyle Kirkwood wins Freedom 250 on Washington streets after Trump waves green flag

Kyle Kirkwood won the Freedom 250 on the streets of downtown Washington on Sunday, claiming his second victory of the IndyCar season by finishing 3.09 seconds ahead of Christian Lundgaard after leading for 128 of a possible 147 laps.

The race was staged as part of the country’s 250th birthday celebration, with President Donald Trump giving drivers the green flag and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser serving as grand marshal; Kirkwood crossed the finish line in front of the Capitol in the 250-mile event.

Kirkwood built a decisive advantage during the race and executed a strong restart with 13 laps remaining that left Lundgaard unable to mount a sustained challenge; Will Power and Marcus Ericsson, Kirkwood’s teammates with Andretti Global, completed the top four.

The start turned chaotic after Trump’s green flag when the field went under caution for debris in Turn 4. The first major incident saw David Malukas hit the wall and Sting Ray Robb collide with him coming around a turn, eliminating two of the race’s eight American drivers.

Several teams pitted early and Alex Palou’s day unraveled on pit lane: he appeared to hit a tire in someone else’s area while exiting and was assessed a drive-through penalty, then on a subsequent stop one of his tires was loose when he started driving, which caused another delay and left him off the lead lap; Palou later spun coming through a turn, triggering a caution while Kirkwood held a commanding lead.

Pole winner Alex Palou, who had a chance to clinch the series title, finished 20th in his second-worst showing of the year.

Palou’s advantage in the standings fell from 133 points over second-place Kirkwood to 91 with three races to go.