{
  "id": 3358184,
  "title": "Washington D.C. IndyCar viewership was the highest for any non-Indy 500 race since 2008 merger",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/washington-d-c-indycar-viewership-was-the-highest-for-any-non-indy",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-25T21:59:29.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Motorsport.com",
    "slug": "motorsport-com",
    "url": "https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news/washington-dc-indycar-race-hit-record-viewership-for-non-indy-500/10849428/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "IndyCar's Freedom 250 Grand Prix race in Washington D.C. attracted the highest non-Indy 500 viewership since the 2008 merger of IndyCar and Champ Car, according to FOX Sports. The event, held on the streets of D.C., averaged 3.282 million viewers, peaking at 3.482 million between 2:30 and 2:45pm EST. President Donald Trump attended the race, driving the Beast and waving the green flag from his suite. The course passed by several notable landmarks, including the U.S. Capitol Building. This marks a 279% increase in viewership from last year's average of 867,000 for non-Indy 500 races. The season's average stands at 1.875 million viewers, a 32% increase from 2025. Kyle Kirkwood won the 147-lap race for Andretti Global, with Christian Lundgaard and Will Power following in second and third places. Alex Palou, aiming for the championship, fell short after Round 15 of 18. IndyCar will now compete at the Milwaukee Mile in a double-header before finishing the 2026 season at Laguna Seca.",
  "summary": "FOX Sports averaged 3.282 million viewers for IndyCar's Freedom 250 Grand Prix on the streets of Washington D.C. this past weekend. The viewership peaked between 2:30 and 2:45pm EST with 3.482 million viewers. These numbers come from Nielsen Media Research. Those numbers make it the highest-viewed non-Indy 500 IndyCar race since before the 2008 reunification of IndyCar/Champ Car. President ...…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Motorsport.com",
        "title": "Winners and losers from the IndyCar race in Washington, D.C.",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/winners-and-losers-from-the-indycar-race-in-washington-d-c",
        "published": "2026-08-25T16:30:08.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}