“Honest” Abe Lincoln closed out the 2015 home season Monday with an emphatic wire-to-wire victory at Nationals Park, sealing the Great Emancipator’s record fifth presidents race season title.
It was only Lincoln’s fourth victory since August 9th, but that was more than enough to hold off the increasingly crowded field. Five presidents had remained in contention heading into the final homestand, and four of them won, allowing Abe to back into the championship before the weekend.
A tribute to the Rugby world cup on Tuesday had the founding fathers carrying a rugby ball downfield, but a fumbled pass and a bit of fan interference put the ball in Teddy’s hands.
Teddy stiff-armed Abe and carried it over for the win.
Thursday night marked the return of Rebecca Raccoon, Calvin Coolidge’s famous pet, who made her first appearance back in August.
The nocturnal pest reprised her role as interloper, pouncing on Abe Lincoln and causing a pile-up in the home stretch before escorting her owner across the finish line.
Saturday was Pups in the Park day at Nationals Park, and Teddy Roosevelt used the occasion to introduce his own pet dog Teddy to the field.
Wearing a “Teddy 01” dog jersey, Teddy accompanied the Rough Rider as he followed the racing presidents onto the field, then lapped them to take the win and finish third in the season standings.
And with that, the tenth presidents race season comes to a close, a little earlier than most Nats fans expected.
Select videos of the final races of the season:
The September 22 Rugby race, as seen on Nats HD:
The September 24 Raccoon-infested race, as seen from the finish line:
The September 26 “Pups in the Park” race, featuring Teddy’s dog “Teddy”:
And the final race, as seen on Nats HD:
LET TEDDY WIN 