There’s no rest in Washington, D.C. today for the Freedom 250. Just hours after Practice 1, the INDYCAR drivers were heading back on track for Practice 2. After facing a drying track earlier on, conditions were more stable for the second practice. This session saw more people struggle with the Turn 6 bump, but Álex Palou narrowly topped the leaderboard ahead of Kyle Kirkwood.
The First Red Flags of the Freedom 250
For the start of Practice 2, everyone opted to head out on the harder tyres. Initial times weren’t as fast as the first session but Josef Newgarden had an early lead. Others then went faster, but the No. 2 Team Penske driver picked up the pace and became the first driver to set a lap under one minute. However, building on his Practice 1 pace, Kyle Kirkwood jumped up to P1 only to be replaced by his teammate, Marcus Ericsson.
Graham Rahal caused the first red flag of the weekend. Coming down Independence Avenue, he hit the wall and locked up, ending up in the Turn 6 escape road. Fortunately, he was okay and the red flag was quick to be cleared. Damage was limited but he was unable to continue in the session.
Once again, ECR were showing pace with Christian Rasmussen going to the top before his teammate, Alexander Rossi took the position. The No. 20 was able to go faster than Kirkwood this morning, with a 0:57.117. However, Álex Palou then found more pace, setting a 0:57.106.
O’Ward also found himself in the escape road of Turn 6, but was able to get back on track quickly. Just after, another red flag was shown for Louis Foster. Hitting the wall, he drifted to the other side of the track and slid into the Turn 6 escape road. Missing his front wing, he was out of the session just like his teammate.
The full field section of Practice 2 was showing the closeness of the INDYCAR grid in 2026. One second separated the top 20 drivers, with 2.8 seconds across the full grid. In the final moments of the session, McLaughlin went the fastest of the weekend so far: a 0:56.894.
Palou Tops Group 1
In Group 1, drivers were split between the two tyre compounds. Scott Dixon initially went fastest. However, Palou soon put in a new track record, 0:56.614, on the soft tyres. But he was showing that the red-walled alternate tyres weren’t done after a single fast lap, matching his pace the next time around. In contrast, after just six laps completed, Christian Lundgaard came onto the radio reporting graining on his tyres.
Dixon found time to go P2, two tenths behind his teammate. However, the times remained close in this session with the top five covered by three tenths. The Group 1 session ended with Siegel running deep at Turn 6, a part of the track proving to be challenging so far this weekend.
Group 2 Topped by Kirkwood
Whilst Rahal was unable to join Group 1, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing were able to fix Foster’s car in time for Group 2. The final practice session started with Will Power heading down the escape road at Turn 6, bringing out double waved yellow flags in that section. However, he was able to get going quickly. He recovered, briefly going P1 before O’Ward took the spot.
Like plenty of times already today, Kirkwood then found himself P1 with a 0:56.820. Being on the harder tyre implies that the Andretti Global driver could have more pace to show when on the soft compound in qualifying. O’Ward was the fastest of the group on the softer tyre, being five hundredths behind the No. 27.
Kirkwood then went even quicker with a 0:56.691, just shy of what Palou did. Power once again found the Turn 6 escape road after making contact with the wall. Felix Rosenqvist locked up coming into Turn 2, finding the escape road there. And Santino Ferrucci was the next to fall foul of the challenging Washington, D.C. track, also ending up in the escape road. To end the session, Power then came down the Turn 1 escape road.
Palou Tops Practice 2 Ahead of Qualifying
Practice on the streets of Washington, D.C. is now complete. With a dry track, the second practice session highlighted the challenges of the circuit. With many drivers falling foul of the bump into Turn 6, questions are being asked over how it’ll affect qualifying and the race. Álex Palou took the top spot in Practice 2, hundredths ahead of Kirkwood. But up next is qualifying, who can convert the practice pace into results?