President Donald Trump had his U.S. presidential state car take laps around the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida on Sunday, in advance of the site’s annual Daytona 500 NASCAR Cup race. The presidential car, nicknamed “The Beast,” took Trump around the speedway after he and his entourage arrived on Air Force One, flying by in view of the crowd, earlier in the day. Asked by a reporter beforehand what he thought about taking laps in the state car, he replied, “I’ll let you know in about two minutes. They’re gonna be going quite quickly, I understand.“ Trump attended the event, considered the most prestigious on the NASCAR circuit, during his first term in 2020, in an attempt to shore up support from car racing fans, who tend to lean conservative. Trump has made being a sports fan—especially mixed martial arts and other combat sports—a cornerstone of his political persona, a carryover from the 1980s and 1990s when his business career saw him take on the role of boxing promoter. On Sunday, Trump addressed drivers in advance of the Daytona race by phoning in to their closed-circuit radio. His voice, heavily distorted on the channel, could be heard on a Fox Sports broadcast telling drivers: “This is your favorite president. I’m a big fan. I am a really big fan of you people.”
