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‘We are American.’ Honda waves the flag at the Freedom 250
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 25, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In one of the most extraordinary events in America’s year-long celebration of its 250th birthday, the Freedom 250 Grand Prix brought IndyCars to the nation’s capital Sunday, August 23 to race around the National Mall. Organized by American racing legend Roger Penske, the event was wrapped in a red-white-and-blue who’s-who of Americana: U.S. Air Force aircraft flyovers, the president of the United States lapping the track in a Cadillac limo and Andretti Global racing team’s popular American driver Kyle Kirkwood holding the trophy.
The winning powertrain manufacturer? Honda Motor Co.
The prominence of the Japanese automaker in the historic U.S. event is a testament to the integration of the Tokyo-based brand in American life. If Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Ford Motor Co. are U.S. brand ambassadors abroad, Honda is as American as, well, the Freedom 250.
With nearly 10% of the U.S. auto market, Honda shares the same challenges as domestic automakers from regulatory changes to tariffs to rising Chinese competition. At the Freedom 250, top Honda executives, drivers and engineers joined in celebrating an America that has brought Honda riches well beyond Japanese borders.