A lap of the Freedom 250 GP in a Corvette Z06

Posted by Talbot Payne on August 23, 2026

WASHINGTON, DC - Detroit News columnist took a hot lap around the Freedom 250 course in a Chevy Corvette Z06.

WASHINGTON, DC – Detroit News columnist took a hot lap around the Freedom 250 course in a Chevy Corvette Z06.

Henry Payne, The Detroit News

WASHINGTON, D.C. – With the 670-horsepower, 5.5-liter V-8 engine screaming behind my ear at a stratospheric 8,400 RPM, the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 hit 135 mph on west-bound Pennsylvania Avenue before hot shoe and General Motors’ Vice President for Product Programs and Motorsport Ken Morris buried the brakes into Turn 2 and pulled the eyeballs out of my head.

And no cops pulled us over.

The nation’s capital has hosted military flyovers, parades, and riots over its 226-year history but it has never seen anything like the NTT IndyCar Freedom 250 Grand Prix that will race around the National Mall Saturday and Sunday, August 22-23.

I got a taste on my Friday afternoon hot lap of what it’s like to go (legally) 110 mph over the 25 mph speed limit down Washington’s six-lane main street that connects the White House and the Capitol Building. This weekend, IndyCar’s will top that by another 50 mph – hitting 185 before diving into Turn 2, the best passing opportunity on the track.

Read full article here.

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