cnn
As Bud Denker dreamed last summer of holding an IndyCar race in downtown Washington, DC, he walked the citys streets in the stifling heat and tried to design the course in his mind.
Denker, the president of Penske Corp., a transportation company that also owns motorsports teams, had put on IndyCar races in other cities.
But the nations capital presented a unique challenge.
The idea was laughable at first an offhand suggestion made over a work dinner for how to celebrate Americas 250th anniversary.
Still, Denker was intrigued and traveled to DC in secret, not even telling his boss, Roger Penske.
The track Denker initially designed wrapped around the citys iconic sites, including the US Capitol and the Washington Monument.
But it wasnt just the course that Denker had to consider it was everything else that comes with putting on a race of that scale.
The hardest problem in designing an urban race is, where do you put a pit lane? Denker told CNN, referring to the roughly quarter-mile long strip with team garages where racecars pull over for quick repairs and to refuel.
And where do you put my 100 trucks that have to come to support the race? Denker added.
Denker thought he had the perfect spot beside the US Capitol, a large space with wide streets winding around historic sites.
He liked that part of the track would be uphill, an added challenge for the drivers.
Then he ran into a classic DC problem: a bureaucratic power struggle.
Since Denkers proposed route included the Capitol grounds, it needed bipartisan congressional approval, a practical non-starter in todays highly partisan climate.
Getting the votes proved so challenging that Denker nearly gave up on the idea of an IndyCar race in Washington entirely.
But a year later, his dream is expected to become a reality.
To avoid Congress, Denker ultimately designed a new course, moving the route one-block west of the Capitol and away from congressional jurisdiction.
President Donald Trump green-lit the event with an executive order in January.
This August, the nations capital is set to host its first-ever IndyCar race, the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, adding to a summer calendar thats included a mixed martial arts cage fight on the White House lawn, a fair on the National Mall, and what was billed as the biggest fireworks display in history.
Transforming downtown DC into a professional-grade, 1.66-mile racetrack has arguably been the most ambitious and tricky of all the events.
With a more-than $35 million price tag, all of it paid for by IndyCar, the 125-lap race will be among the most expensive on the IndyCar calendar, and with free general admission tickets.
With challenges, such as navigating other federal and city entities that entangle DC, Denker had to solve for security issues so Trump and his Cabinet members could potentially attend.
He also had to negotiate to get buy-in from city officials and DC residents for an event that is expected to cause significant road closures for up to two months in one of the nations most congested downtowns.
Extensive construction is needed to allow open-wheel IndyCars to race safely at speeds of up to 180 mph.
Walls (to protect both racers and spectators) and viewing areas along the track need to built and then taken down after race day.
And theres the politics of it all a particular point of tension for sports leagues that typically attempt to be apolitical.
Trumps involvement risks rankling some of IndyCars fans and even drivers.
McLaren Racings Pato OWard, IndyCars only full-time racer from Mexico, has said it would be ironic if he won given the presidents politics.
I want the entire city, I want all of Congress to be part of this event, Denker told CNN.
I dont have exclusive areas for anybody thats red or blue.
Denker has spent so much time in Washington over the past year often three days a week he rented an apartment and has office space in the city.
His full-time job isnt putting on a race its running Penske Corp., as well as managing the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar series.
But Denker feels he has an obligation to help grow the Indycar Series with something as audacious as a race in the middle of the nations capital.
Im not a licensed lobbyist, but Ive sure felt like it over the last eight months, Denker said.
What about a race in DC? One night last summer, Denker was having dinner with Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks.
We said, What can we do to celebrate our countrys 250th anniversary? Denker said.
Then Denker asked Shanks, What about a race in DC? The men laughed it off.
But the next week, Denker made his clandestine trip to DC to scout a potential track.
He also got to know Trumps Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, an early supporter of the event whose staff helped Denker navigate what were expected to be tricky congressional waters.
Part of the pitch to legislators included details about IndyCars running on renewable fuels and the vehicles are relatively light so they werent expected to cause damage to historical buildings, said Pete Meachum, Duffys chief of staff.
Denker said he had 81 meetings in roughly 90 days on Capitol Hill.
But the odds were stacked against him.
Getting the idea out of the Senate was going to require 60 votes, hard math in the closely-divided chamber.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune eventually broke the news to Denker that he wouldnt have the necessary votes.
Denker was ready to give up, and on January 21, he called Duffy to tell him so.
I said, Were done.
This is not a political event.
This is an event to celebrate our country, Denker recalled.
Duffy told Denker not to abandon the project just yet, and a day later, he called back with a new suggestion: design a new race route entirely off the US Capitol grounds, cutting out Congress entirely.
I think we all know how hard it is to get Congress to agree on anything, Meachum said.
People thought it was cool and amazing, but we were doing something on an accelerated clock.
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It was easier to work with one mayor than two legislative chambers.
Denkers new route starts a few blocks in front of the Capitol, along 3rd Street, followed by turns onto Pennsylvania Avenue and then 9th Street passing the National Gallery of Art and National Archives.
The route had to include Pennsylvania Avenue the street where the White House is located because it was wide enough to serve as a pit lane.
Its also where drivers will likely reach their top speeds of around 175 mph.
The course then turns onto Constitution Avenue and cuts across 7th Street, dissecting the National Mall before turning onto Independence Avenue, past the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
It then turns on Maryland Avenue and back onto 3rd Street, spanning less than 1.7 miles and seven turns.
On January 30, less than 10 days after his call to Duffy, Denker was in the Oval Office as Trump signed an executive order Celebrating American Greatness with American Motor Racing.
Nearly six months later, Trump stood with IndyCar drivers Alex Palou, Felix Rosenqvist, this years Indianapolis 500 winner, and David Malukas, at a White House event showcasing the Freedom 250 car and the team of people that willed the race into existence, including Denker.
Because its a one-off race, you only really have one shot, Rosenqvist told CNN.
I think it creates more of an urge to win it.
That trophy is only going to be awarded to one driver and one team, so it would be really cool to be the one.
Its a little bit of a different league compared to other events, he added.
Like, oh my God loud The Freedom 250 wont be the first time a race will be held in Washington to commemorate Americas anniversary.
In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson celebrated Americas 25th birthday with a horse race around some of the same land where IndyCar will soon build its track.
Here we are with more horsepower, Denker said with a grin.
In 2002, the American Le Mans Series held a Grand Prix in DC, but it was on a temporary circuit built in the parking lots around RFK Memorial Stadium rather than city streets.
The Freedom 250 will be an entirely different event, requiring miles of concrete barriers and fencing, a total of five pedestrian bridges built over the track, plus high-dollar suites and temporary grandstands.
DC Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Lindsey Appiah told CNN the physical build-out of the track will begin at the end of July, about a month before the August 23 race.
Returning the city back to normal will take until roughly the second week of September.
While much of the work will be at night, the two-month construction process in the heart of Washington promises to irritate commuters and residents alike.
Trumps executive order allowed IndyCar to bypass many local bureaucratic hoops, such as public hearings where residents might have raised objections.
The race also comes at the end of a long summer of events in downtown DC commemorating the countrys 250th anniversary.
Elyssa Feder, co-founder and Executive Director of Rising Organizers, a community organizing non-profit based in DC, said that the Freedom 250 celebrations have rung a little sour for residents who lack statehood and largely oppose Trumps surge in federal law enforcement in the city, along with a National Guard presence.
I think the thing that most DC residents are feeling, and certainly the ones that I speak with, is a sense of frustration that the administration continues to use the District of Columbia as its playground, Feder told CNN.
On top of the weeks of construction, there will also be the noise associated with the race.
Matt Winkler, professor of Sports Business at American University who was at the Le Mans race at RFK Stadium over 20 years ago, recalls the event as really cool for race fanatics but really loud for any residents who lived near the course.
Races are really, really, really loud, like, oh my god, loud, Winkler said.
Denker anticipated concerns about disruption and noise, meeting in May with residents who live or have office space near the course to pitch his plan and answer any questions.
Despite concerns about the race transformation, Winkler finds that the city-fied course will still bring the sexiness of racing to Washington.
Others, including George Washington University sports management professor Lisa Delpy Neirotti, say growing interest in auto racing fueled by shows such as Netflixs Formula One series Drive to Survive gives the city, IndyCar and Penske an opportunity to attract a global audience.
Its easy to pull off because they have an executive order that they can basically do what they need to do to get this thing done.
If they had to go through public hearings, if they had to go through a lot of other hoops, it would not be enough time, but I think they have a lot of internal support to get things done, Neirotti said.
Pitching the mayors office Part of Denkers pitch to Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, was that the race could bring significant economic benefits to the city during an otherwise slow time of year, when Congress is in recess.
He told her that Detroits annual IndyCar race brings $100 million in windfall over a three-day period.
Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination DC, the citys tourism marketing arm, told CNN that their hotel partners are seeing an increase in reservations around major events like the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, however the economic impact wont be clear until after the event.
Along with the 250th celebrations, the boost in DC tourism could also be attributed to citywide conventions and group travel this summer.
Penske will be financing the race, but the city is tapping into a $90 million emergency planning and security fund, which provides federal dollars to DC to accommodate events of this nature, according to Appiah, who anticipates the full fund will be used through events this summer.
Penske partnered with Monumental Sports, a sports and venue management company that owns and operates several teams in DC, including the Wizards NBA team and Capitals NHL team, to help sell sponsorships and suites for the Grand Prix.
The suites, which will be built as part of the course construction, cost $200,000 to $250,000 apiece, and nearly all 78 have been sold, according to Monumental.
General admission tickets are free, and Penske received nearly 300,000 requests for race weekend, ultimately granting 100,000 tickets.
The race is considered nonprofit, so any revenue that exceeds IndyCars costs will be distributed to Washington, D.C.-based charities.
How to secure an entire racetrack? One request that DC made to the federal government was designating the Grand Prix a National Special Security Event a status reserved for the nations highest-profile and highest-risk gatherings, such as presidential inaugurations and state funerals.
The Armys 250th Birthday Parade in Washington last year received that designation, but DCs request for the race was denied by the administration.
Appiah said the race ultimately received Special Event Assessment Rating Level 1 the highest designation below a National Special Security Event.
The balance is in making the event accessible, allowing a large number of attendees, with security measures, she said.
Denker, who attended the White House Correspondents Dinner in April, where a suspected gunman was apprehended just outside of the ballroom where Trump and other Cabinet members were present, said security considerations have been the most significant planning challenge.
Some extra measures were added after the Correspondents Dinner, he said.
We already had a pretty ironclad plan put in place, Denker said.
Youre going to see a perimeter around our entire circumference of our racetrack, probably going three or four blocks back.
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Every fan will have to go through magnetometers like they do the Super Bowl.
Fans should feel safe about coming here, Denker said.
One fan who might be in attendance is Trump.
Denker said the president wanted to attend the Indy 500 in Indianapolis last year, but its difficult when you have 355,000 people.
Still, Denker said he hopes Trump attends the race in Washington.
We said to him early on, Were bringing a race to you, Denker said.
Obviously the invitation is open to him, as it is to any member of Congress as well, too.
It always has been that way.
Though Denker wanted to keep the race out of the political fray, hes already learned some painful lessons about how fraught anything surrounding Washington can be.
A T-shirt promoting the Grand Prix with One Nation, One Race printed on it quickly sparked outrage and the merchandise was subsequently removed from the IndyCar online store.
Denker owned the mistake.
That was my fault, Denker said.
As we were designing and having people design T-shirts for us and come through and show us these T-shirts, you can imagine my thought of it was of a race here in DC, and the nation here, so I take the blame for that.
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When people raised it was an issue, I said, My gosh, I can understand that, and we pulled that immediately.
So that was a blemish on me, and I admit the fault for that.
The administrations fingerprints on the event are hard to miss.
The show car for the Grand Prix, recently on display near the US Capitol, has the emblems for the Department of Transportation and the Department of Interior on it, as well as the presidential seal on the front wing.
Denker said thats because they were key supporters of the race.
But as Trump has put his stamp on a number of 250th anniversary events, the celebration has drawn ire by some for taking on a more partisan than patriotic flavor.
IndyCar has not been immune to the criticism even as the racing series hopes the Freedom 250 Grand Prix attracts more fans to the sport than it turns away.
I think the times we live in now, no matter what you do or what you dont do, not everyones going to like it, said Ed Carpenter, an IndyCar driver who also owns the Ed Carpenter Racing team.
I would say, just come out enjoy the sport, give it a chance.
My guess is youll have a good time.