Isabelle Khurshudyan

CNN gets a guided tour of the Freedom250 Grand Prix race track from its Chairman Bud Denker, as the nation's capital prepares for its first ever high-speed IndyCar race.

CNN gets a guided tour of the Freedom250 Grand Prix race track from its Chairman Bud Denker, as the nation’s capital prepares for its first ever high-speed IndyCar race.

As Bud Denker dreamed last summer of holding an IndyCar race in downtown Washington, DC, he walked the city's streets in the stifling heat and tried to design the course in his mind. Denker, the president of Penske Corp., a transportation company that also owns motorsports teams, had put on IndyCar races in other cities. But the nation's capital presented a unique challenge.

As Bud Denker dreamed last summer of holding an IndyCar race in downtown Washington, DC, he walked the city’s streets in the stifling heat and tried to design the course in his mind. Denker, the president of Penske Corp., a transportation company that also owns motorsports teams, had put on IndyCar races in other cities. But the nation’s capital presented a unique challenge.

As a backcountry ranger at a national park, Sam built a career doing work that many visitors never see: patrolling trails, checking campsites and educating hikers on how to keep themselves and the park safe.

As a backcountry ranger at a national park, Sam built a career doing work that many visitors never see: patrolling trails, checking campsites and educating hikers on how to keep themselves and the park safe. Sam had never been asked to collect entry fees — until this year.

The premise sounds almost fictional: one boy and one girl from every state, territory and some tribal nations, flown to a private campus in Ohio to

The premise sounds almost fictional: one boy and one girl from every state, territory and some tribal nations, flown to a private campus in Ohio to compete in a televised athletic contest called the Patriot Games — a Trump-backed youth competition with obstacle courses, patriotic testimonials and inevitable comparisons to The Hunger Games.

Trumps' Patriot Games, a test of youth sports and patriotism, will award winners with $125,000 in college scholarship money.

President Donald Trump's Patriot Games are now underway as part of the celebrations of America's 250th anniversary. CNN's Isabelle Khurshudyan explains what we know about the participants competing for college scholarship money in the youth sports event. Discover more videos, including live streams and exclusive storytelling, on our