The Race For Power, Money And Influence At Washington’s Indycar Event

The IndyCar race set to zoom around the National Mall is a variation on a familiar theme in the Trump era: Corporations pour money into an opaque nonprofit, amid concerns over outsized influence and questions over pay-to-play.

Indeed, this weekend’s Freedom 250 Grand Prix fits a pattern with other initiatives backed by President Donald Trump that invite corporate donations, including his inauguration, the White House ballroom and June’s Ultimate Fighting Championship matches on the South Lawn.

In the case of the IndyCar event, corporations with massive influence operations in Washington — including Boeing, SpaceX, Shell and Amazon — have lined up as sponsors.

Many of those backers have garnered prominent advertising along the 1.7-mile course where race cars will skirt by monuments and museums at speeds up to 180 mph. The two-day event is expected to draw 140,000 daily and will be broadcast on Fox Sports.

Left-leaning watchdogs and a top Democrat have been critical of the blurry ethics surrounding the race’s funding.

“Instead of spending his time building ballrooms and extracting IndyCar contributions from the same corporations he regulates, Donald Trump should be bringing down the high costs hitting working Americans,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a top appropriator, said in a statement to POLITICO.

Race organizers and administration officials are expressing no such concerns as they post numerous videos to social media promoting the event.

“President Trump is ensuring America gets the spectacular birthday it deserves as we celebrate our 250th anniversary,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told POLITICO in a statement. “Anyone claiming there are conflicts of interest relating to this blockbuster event clearly suffers from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

The Department of Transportation similarly brushed aside any ethics questions. “At the Department, regulatory decisions are guided by career safety professionals, the law, and the facts,” said spokesperson Nate Sizemore in an email, adding that “tens of thousands of freedom-loving Americans are preparing to celebrate the innovation, skill, and drive for excellence that make our nation great.” 

Freedom 250 Grand Prix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Many of the companies mentioned in this story did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Shell, Krista Edwards, did not address ethics questions regarding its donations, but said its “sponsorship of the Freedom 250 reflects our long-standing commitment to motorsports.” She added: “Our participation is focused on celebrating America’s 250th anniversary and supporting the sport, its fans, and continued innovation.”

Unusual is now usual

The Trump administration has made a commonplace practice out of deals with corporations that would once have been unthinkable. The most recent example was Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s just-released road trip video series on YouTube, whose sponsors included Boeing, Toyota and Royal Caribbean.

For months, congressional Democrats and watchdogs such as Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington have raised concerns over potential pay-for-access. The celebrations funded by Freedom 250 (a separate nonprofit from the Grand Prix), like the UFC fights in June, were established by Trump via executive order and have come under similar scrutiny.

Donald Sherman, president of the left-leaning CREW, told POLITICO that the Trump administration is “effectively promoting private companies” by hosting the event on the National Mall.

“Blurring the line between public and private interests causes significant conflict-of-interest concerns,” Sherman wrote in a statement. “Supporting the event, either by donating to the nonprofit facilitating it or buying advertising space, seems like a way to potentially grab the attention and favor of the administration, which wanted to see this race happen.”

Organizers and officials have stressed that no taxpayer money is at stake in the race, though a local official granted anonymity to speak candidly said the District of Columbia will likely have to tap into congressionally appropriated funds to pay for local police presence and other expenses.

‘This was my dream’

The race’s practice runs and qualifiers will take place on Saturday. The race is slated to start around 1 p.m. Sunday. Trump is expected to take a “lap of honor” on Sunday ahead of the race and Duffy is expected to wave the checkered flag at the end of the contest.

IndyCar organizer Bud Denker, who is also president of rental truck giant Penske, has spent months negotiating with federal officials, members of Congress and D.C. officials to get the race to the finish line. IndyCar has gone to extraordinary lengths to stage the race, including paying the $35 million needed to transform the area around the National Mall and promising to donate any profits the event generates to D.C. charities.

“This was my dream, a little over a year ago, to bring an IndyCar race to our nation’s capital,” Denker said at a press event Thursday.

Denker has not been shy about discussing the many corporate sponsors the race has attracted.

He listed some of the companies sponsoring the race and identified where their ads would appear on the track: “Boeing is at turn six, beautiful turn; Starlink is at turn two; … the CEO of Delta Airlines will be there!” Delta is also a sponsor of the race.

Lisa Hanna, a spokesperson for Delta, did not address ethics questions. She said the airline supports “America’s 250th anniversary through a variety of initiatives and events that celebrate our nation’s history.”

Many of these companies have significant business before the federal government and spend millions of dollars each year seeking to influence it.

Last quarter, Boeing spent more than $2.8 million lobbying Congress, the Department of Defense and the Transportation Department on aviation issues and critical-minerals policy, according to lobbying disclosures reviewed by POLITICO. It also lobbied on two air-safety bills being debated in Congress.

SpaceX, which owns Starlink, spent $100,000 lobbying Congress this year on “commercial, civil, and defense space transportation,” satellite-communications issues and space-launch licensing approvals, according to disclosures.

Delta spent $300,000 last quarter lobbying Congress and the Transportation Department on aviation issues, air-traffic-control modernization and airline regulation, according to disclosures. DOT referred multiple questions to Penske, which owns IndyCar.

VIP access?

Christopher Swartz, senior ethics counsel at left-leaning Democracy Defenders, said these companies should not be advertising on public land.

“They’ll be racing on streets that cross over public property, probably the most important part of our country, the National Mall, which is the public space of public spaces,” Swartz said. “There shouldn’t be advertising, there shouldn’t be hot-bonding between high-level industry executives and executive branch officials”

In January, Trump signed an executive order paving the way for IndyCar to host the race in the District. The race organizers originally planned to route parts of the course near the Capitol but scrapped the idea to avoid congressional jurisdiction, CNN reported.

Denker chairs Freedom 250 Grand Prix, the nonprofit created to organize this event, and Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which manages the Washington Commanders’ marketing and manages the race’s sponsorship and hospitality. Despite having similar names, Freedom 250 Grand Prix is a separate nonprofit from Freedom 250, the public-private nonprofit Trump created in January.

Freedom 250 did not directly respond to ethics-related questions sent by POLITICO. Eric Petry at the liberal-leaning Brennan Center argued that the event’s VIP packages might also provide wealthy attendees access to federal officials attending the event.

“If that is part of the deal where companies can pay money for access or influence or kind of getting in the ear of public officials, that’s a real problem. I think it contributes to the sense of cynicism that the public increasingly has,” Petry said. “Even if there’s nothing wrong happening, even if there’s no wrongdoing, … it is reasonable for the public to question their motives here.”