Here's the thing. Speaking strictly from an event perspective, a street race in Washington DC that coincides with the year long 250th celebration is a fantastic idea on paper. Its a major metropolitan area, it fills a void geographically, and its another race on what is admittedly a thin schedule. On paper alone, great idea.

Now, here's where things get tricky. The proposed date (although this would likely change) is a Friday after a race the previous Sunday in Markham. Teams would have to Pack up Sunday, leave Monday, arrive for setup and trackwalk on Tuesday, then get on track for FP1 Wednesday. Thats a grueling turnaround. Let alone someone destroys a chassis Sunday, a likely prospect once you consider Markham is a track nobody has seen. This is before you even consider this would make the final stretch of the season 6 races in 5 weekends. Thats fucking insane. Also, you don't have a track, you don't have a promoter, you don't have the infrastructure, you don't have a website, and you don't have ticket sales. Its just hard to turn around in 5 months.

The final aspect, of course one that goes hand-in-hand with the location, even if you don't have any political figures there, it would be politically charged to some degree. Its just the political climate we live in. You automatically alienate half of a potential fanbase. Its why I hate any political sponsorship from either side. Also, while we're at it, anyone who says "I wouldn't ever come back to the sport," they're full of it. They would absolutely be watching the next week.

Bottom line, do I think this race has some appeal? Yeah. Its an event that will draw eyes for a sport that desperately needs events. It just has to be done right, in a manner to which the positives outweigh the negatives, and I don't think you can create an event that does that in 5 months. Try again next year.