The Athletic has live coverage of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix.WASHINGTON — IndyCar’s Freedom 250 Grand Prix has been an atypical motorsports event, considering no racing series had ever competed on the streets around the National Mall in the heart of Washington, D.C., before.It also had an atypical start.U.S. President Donald Trump waved the green flag to start the race from his custom-built suite, which was located well past the starting line — even past Turn 1.Air Force One flyoverJeff GluckThat meant drivers went through the first turn of the race before actually taking the green flag to officially start it; an odd sight for motorsports fans, to be sure.Trump then waved the flag from inside the protected suite, and drivers were told “green, green, green” by race control, bringing the race underway.“It will be interesting,” polesitter Alex Palou said Saturday. “It’s the first time we’re going to start after Turn 1, right? So it will be fun. I think we just have an incredible opportunity this weekend to show our product to people that’s never been around IndyCar or have never seen it.”Trump had a large presence at an event made possible through his executive order, also greeting several drivers and team owners before the race and doing a ceremonial lap in “The Beast” — his presidential limo — as his presidential plane and four F-35 fighter jets conducted a flyover.