INDYCAR raced through the streets of Washington, D.C., for the Freedom 250, and for the podium finishers, the location was the main takeaway of the weekend. Competing against the backdrop of the U.S. Capitol, the podium finishers reflected on the impact driving around various D.C. landmarks had on the experience. Winner Kyle Kirkwood held the lead for most of the afternoon, but the location added weight to the victory that rivaled traditional major races on the schedule. “You can’t even put it into words,” Kirkwood told our Jamie Little after the race. “This is incredible, I’m almost in tears here. This is a big moment for us, big moment for America. … It felt good to dominate out there, I’m not gonna lie.” While different in many ways, the spectacle of the Freedom 250 has been compared with that of the Indianapolis 500, which is considered one of the greatest motorsports events in the world. “If you can’t win at the (Indy) 500, this is definitely the place to win,” Kirkwood continued. “And I don’t know if we’re ever going to get another chance at this. I hope we do. I hope we do. This was awesome, but what a dream come true.” Second-place finisher Christian Lundgaard missed out on the top spot, but pointed out the location as a defining element of the weekend. “I feel it’s fitting that an American won, right?” Lundgaard said. “We gave it our best shot. Awesome event. We got the capital in the background. This is only something you could dream of.” Will Power secured third place and reflected on his journey from regional Australia to driving on the streets of D.C. He underscored how surreal the environment felt from inside the cockpit. “It’s such an epic event, man,” Power said. “Look back there, I just could never dream of being in a place like this, racing in a place like this when I started all those years ago in Toowoomba.” The shared perspective among the top three finishers highlighted an event where the scale of the venue elevated the racing experience.Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
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Kacey Musgraves kicked off her Middle of Nowhere Tour in Chicago with one clear message: go big or go home. And she certainly went big. From an unforgettable entrance to performing on a rotating 360-degree stage, larger-than-life production and plenty of rhinestones, Musgraves pulled out all the stops.
A little after 9 p.m. on Friday, August 21, AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” blared through the speakers of the United Center and a countdown appeared on the screen, letting fans know that Musgraves would be arriving soon. Just minutes later, she emerged atop a rusted, tin structure featuring a large “Middle of Nowhere” sign. Backlit by beams of light shooting from the structure, she launched into “Everybody Wants to Be a Cowboy,” with an American flag and Chicago flag hanging behind her.
Kacey Musgraves; Photo by Charles Reagan (After Three Media)
The GRAMMY Award-winning singer eventually made her way through the crowd, separated by barricades, before stepping onto the main stage, which featured a giant star at its center. She wasted no time in setting the tone for the energy of the night with fan-favorites, “Dry Spell,” “justified,” and “High Horse.”
She then got even closer to the sold-out crowd, moving onto the lower level of the stage where she paused to address everyone in attendance and acknowledge the fact that her 38th birthday happened to fall on opening night of the tour.
“The very very first show of this entire era is right here in Chicago tonight. And did anyone happen to mention that it’s also my birthday?” she asked. “Yeah, thanks for the signs that’s really cute I love that.”
The Chicago crowd helped make the milestone show even more memorable by holding up special birthday signs and singing “Happy Birthday” several times throughout the night, including when a team member brought her a cake with candles to blow out. At one point she even pointed out, “I think this is the biggest birthday party I’ve ever had.”
Musgraves continued, “Hi Chicago. I’ll have you know that there is not room for one more human body in this fu**ing building so good job…the only rule for hanging out in the middle of nowhere…well there aren’t any rules. So maybe just don’t be an a**hole. Other than that, let’s just have a good fu**ing time.”
From there, she transported the audience to 2012, aka “back to the beginning,” she stated before delivering “Merry Go ‘Round.” The performance marked the beginning of one of the night’s many visual spectacles as Musgraves rotated around the 360 degree stage, giving fans in every section of the arena a chance to get a good view.
Kacey Musgraves; Photo by Charles Reagan (After Three Media)
The set continued with “Honeybee,” “Back On The Wagon” and “I Believe in Ghosts,” the latter of which transformed the stage into an eerie scene as smoke swirled around. She brought the energy back up and showed off her line dancing skills with “Uncertain, TX,” before continuing to sing even more tracks from her newest album, including “Abilene,” “Horses and Divorces,” “Loneliest Girl,” “Rhinestoned,” “Mexico Honey” and the title track, “Middle of Nowhere.”
With every performance in the 21-song set list, the production continued to get bigger and bigger. A few highlights include the illuminated butterfly that flew through the air above the crowd during “Butterflies,” the brightly lit stars hung from the structure above the stage creating a dreamy backdrop for “Loneliest Girl in the World,” the confetti that fell during “Space Cowboy” and “Golden Hour,” which brought an entirely different kind of image as sparks fell from the ceiling, surrounding Musgraves in bright lights.
Musgraves introduced “Rhinestoned” in perhaps the most talked-about moment of the night, taking the stage atop a pair of enormous, rhinestone-covered, anatomically correct disco balls hanging from the ceiling.
“It takes balls to get up here to do what I do every night… two gigantic, anatomically correct sparkly balls, in fact,” she stated.
Kacey Musgraves; Photo by Charles Reagan (After Three Media)
She then said, “my nana always told me, ‘honey, if you’re gonna do something, do to it big and do it sparkly.’ Nana, is this what you had in mind?” she asked, earning laughter from the crowd.
Musgraves took things one step further when she sat in between the glittering disco balls and was lifted into the air and rotated above the stage, serving as an over-the-top moment that fans never saw coming.
She kept the Texas spirit going with “Horses and Divorces” before getting up-close-and-personal with fans. As she made her way around the floor level, Musgraves brought some Tex Mex flair with her for “(Hey Baby) ¿Qué Pasó?”, the Texas Tornados cover.
Musgraves paused in between songs to briefly reflect on the new era that came with the release of her Middle of Nowhere album and the tour that gives her the chance to celebrate her growing catalog. She said that making the record “felt like coming home,” before thanking fans for receiving the new music with “such open arms.”
Kacey Musgraves; Photo by Charles Reagan (After Three Media)
With only a few songs left, she acknowledged just how special it was to be celebrating the launch of her brand-new tour with such an amazing group of fans who spent their hard-earned money to see her bring her music to life.
“I really hope you guys have had a wonderful time tonight. It’s really crazy that this moment will never happen again, the opening night of the tour…thank you so much for selling it out that means so much to me.”
The night ended with something old and something new. Fans first joined her in singing “Follow Your Arrow,” a favorite track off her debut album of 2013, Same Trailer Different Park. For the final song of opening night, Musgraves honored her Texas roots with her version of George Strait’s classic, “All My Ex’s Live in Texas.”
The stage transformed into a celebration of Texas pride, with a giant Texas flag hanging from the ceiling while red, white and blue lights lit up the room. The performance ended with a round of mini fireworks erupting around the stage before Musgraves said her goodbyes and made her way out of the arena.
Kacey Musgraves; Photo by Charles Reagan (After Three Media)
And with that, the first night of the Middle of Nowhere Tour had officially come to an end. If opening night was any indication of how the rest of the run will go, it’s safe to say that fans can expect plenty more shows that are every bit as fun, sparkly and unapologetically Texas as the country star at the center of it all.
The trek continues Monday, August 24 in Toronto, followed by more North American dates, including multiple nights at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, Austin’s Moody Center, Dallas’ American Airlines Center and Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena.
Kacey Musgraves will bring things to a close with two shows at Seattles Climate Pledge Arena in October.
I keep making the mistake of thinking that things can’t get worse for the Browns and quarterback Deshaun Watson. So far, the relationship has been marred by the remarkable trifecta of poor play on the field, terrible off-field red flags and an anchor of a $230 million contract that will continue to limit the franchise’s ability to rebound, even after Watson is gone. Through all of that, to hear Watson speak to reporters after Saturday’s home preseason loss to the Bills, there is somehow a complete lack of awareness, of remorse, of any ownership for where he is and why Browns fans booed him in his return. “I think the whole world knows it has nothing to do about the performance,” Watson said. “It’s a little bit (more) personal than that. I think that’s a disrespectful thing.” So, I’ll say another thing he might consider disrespectful: The Browns need to move on and cut Watson. I say that not as an endorsement of second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who would presumably step in as starter if Watson is out of the picture. Not because it’s a sound move to make from a financial and salary-cap standpoint. If you’re trying to move on as a franchise, you don’t let Watson be part of that rebuilding just because you agreed to pay him $46 million for this season in 2022. It’s the Marianas Trench of sunk costs. The worst thing about Watson’s $230 million contract with the Browns is that the team has barely accounted for half of it from a salary-cap standpoint. If Cleveland cuts him before the season, it would result in $127 million in dead money, which is money that counts against the salary cap from a player no longer under contract. It would cost the Browns $41 million this year and $86 million in 2027 to cut Watson before this season. Cleveland doesn’t even have $41 million in cap space right now, so it would take reworking other contracts, at the expense of future cap space, just to be done with Watson. Watson took issue with Browns fans on Saturday because some of them cheered when he tore his Achilles tendon in 2024. It’s a fair gripe to have, but beyond the idea that you should never cheer an injury, he had already used up whatever goodwill he had with fans in Cleveland. Consider what $230 million has gotten them, just from a football standpoint. Watson is 9-10 as a starter, with 19 touchdown passes in those 19 games, against 12 interceptions. Of the 50 quarterbacks who have thrown 500+ passes since the start of 2022, Watson ranks 42nd in QB Rating. That’s below established backups like Desmond Ridder, Gardner Minshew, Will Levis and Aidan O’Connell. Watson’s time with the Browns began with a list of accusers that grew and grew until he settled with them before going to trial, an 11-game suspension and a $5 million fine, an embarrassment that understandably hasn’t faded for many of their fans. Asked on Saturday if he regretted signing with the Browns, Watson said, “I don’t regret anything in my life,” a line that very few people can pull off with a straight face. Cleveland not only gave him $230 million but gave up three first-round picks and more to the Texans, who have made the playoffs three years in a row as a by-product of moving on from Watson, to acquire him. “I had different thoughts on how it was going to be,” Watson said of his time in Cleveland, a sentiment that could be echoed by nearly anyone who’s had interactions with him in the last four years. You feel for Todd Monken, who gets to become an NFL head coach at age 60, but only by accepting a team that’s 8-26 in the last two years and just traded away the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. You wonder if the Browns will have patience with him, knowing that any turnaround will not be immediate. You understand why Myles Garrett would relent and allow a trade to the Rams. The Browns are poised to take a quarterback at or near the top of the 2027 NFL Draft, and frankly, any success this year makes that less likely to work out. To that end, keeping Watson and accepting his poor play might help improve the quality of his successor. Sanders isn’t likely to get in the way of that either. He ranked 44th out of 45 quarterbacks with 100+ passes last season when it comes to passer rating; he ranked last in completion percentage and third-to-last in interception percentage. Anyone would be more well-liked by Browns fans, but at least you can cite the chance of improvement with Sanders, 24, compared to Watson at age 31. Watson said Saturday that he gets a warmer welcome at road games, saying of the upcoming season that “maybe it’s 17 away games” in terms of how the crowd makes him feel. “Sometimes, the tables turn,” he said of his future. If he’s already envisioning his revenge with another NFL team, good luck with that. And if he says he’s keeping his true feelings about his own fans to himself, why force those fans to be divided about their team by staying with him, by keeping him as your choice at the most important position on the field? Has Watson ever given them a real reason to cheer? He went 5-1 as a starter in 2023, but even then, three of those wins had the Browns defense hold opponents to 3, 3 and 0 points. He was more there for the win, much more than being responsible for it. When he said weeks ago that he would consider re-signing with the Browns, it was cringeworthy, like a marriage that neither side’s friends wants to see continue under any circumstances. So, rip the $230 million band-aid off. Get the pain over with and start the process of putting Watson in their past, right now. When another quarterback takes the field for Thursday’s preseason finale in Cleveland, the crowd will cheer. You might not know who the quarterback of your future is, yes, but there’s a value in knowing who you’ve chosen as the quarterback of your past.Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
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Almost nothing is guaranteed in motorsports, but when you set out to host a one-of-a-kind INDYCAR street race in the heart of Washington, D.C., exceptional and wonderfully juxtaposed views are, in fact, a given. For Sunday’s Freedom 250, the 1.7-mile street course ran around and through the National Mall, flanked by the U.S. Capitol on one side and the Washington Monument on the other. The temporary track also snaked around National Archives, the National Gallery of Art and the Air and Space Museum, among many other museums and government buildings, providing both INDYCAR teams and fans with unparalleled optics. INDYCAR drivers — including Alex Palou, Pato O’Ward, Scott McLaughlin, Scott Dixon and Graham Rahal — soaked in all the history and what was for some their first trip to the U.S. capital, and the Freedom 250 itself delivered stunning race images against the backdrop of some of the nation’s most recognizable landmarks. Here’s a look at some of the best photos from Sunday’s Freedom 250.Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
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There was a time when Jessie Cave wished she could wrap herself in an invisibility cloak. 
Peta Murgatroyd and Maksim Chmerkovskiy are dancing through life in their new home.
