The venue looked immaculate. The area around the institutions of national government and culture had a new , well-built race track, and the fan zone and food court were laid out nicely. Entry was well organized and just a few steps from the Metro station.

Fans came in droves, and every are seemed area seemed packed wigth people.I talked to a group of race fans from Baltimore who were very excited to have race return to their part of the country. They had attended the Baltimore races and truly loved them. thei group is one segment of fan IndyCar is trying to recapture.

I talked to some other fans who have seen other forms of racing, and are attending their first IndyCar event. They liked what they had seen so far. All in all, today was a huge PR boost for the series.

Vor the serious fans, and I think this might be an issue tomorrow for the newer croad,, elements were lacking. There is dearth of video boards along the track itself. As in n one. No PA system was in place to keep fans informed. I am pretty sure not many new spectators have the IndyCar app, and for those of who did, it proved very unreliable.

I had no idea how qualifying was going. Several video boards are in the food area, and I get that. But if I wanted to watch the race without seeing the track, I would have stayed hoere is a paucity of bleachers, and if you leave your seat, you need to stand in line until enough people leave me.

Sightlines around the track are not great. Grandstands are few, and they were constantly full. People lined up waiting for a seat to open, and the person who left had to get back in line and wait to reenter.

While the day was a fantastic shot in the arm for IndyCar, I hope some improvements in fan information can be worrked out for tomorrow.

Qualifying

Alex Palou grabbed another pole as the series reverted to the single car street course Fast Six. Palou edged Kyle Kirkwood to set up afront row we have seen before this season.

Incredible,” Palou said. “Such a privilege to be racing here. Spectacular place, spectacular fans, as well. My car was on rails. Super-fun lap, super-fun car to drive. Couldn’t be happier. Looking forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, man, 250 miles.”

Rdesults

I will be leaving very early for the track tomorrow and I will have a brief race review tomorrow evening and a more complete report Monday night after I return home.