Race on for Bristol Motor Speedway
to prepare for NASCAR after hosting the MLB Speedway Classic
[August 05, 2025]
By TERESA M. WALKER
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — The instant the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati
Braves cleared the baseball diamond inside the infield at Bristol
Motor Speedway, a new clock started.
“The Last Great Colosseum” has to switch from hosting the MLB
Speedway Classic and be ready for NASCAR's return to the historic
racetrack hosting a playoff chase race Sept. 13.
“As soon as the last pitch is thrown, the last hit's hit, teams do
their thing, postgame’s taken care of, pads will start coming off
the wall, and they’ll work through the night to basically start
disassembling so we can reassemble for the NASCAR race,” said Steve
Swift, Speedway Motorsports' senior vice president of operations.
Major League Baseball used BaAM to create everything from clubhouses
for the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds complete with showers,
strength and conditioning rooms, coach and trainers’ offices and
batting cages. Grandstands down both base lines with broadcast
booths.
Pit walls taken down to keep the Reds and Braves from crashing into
them have to be rebuilt. Swift said pouring concrete walls does take
time and then more time to cure properly. Additives can help
concrete cure faster, but that's just one of the reconstruction
issues causing obstacles.
Swift said Bristol has had great partners planning for all the
details of making this happen. Now it's time for Bristol Motor
Speedway to go from hosting the first MLB regular-season game in the
state of Tennessee and setting a record with a paid attendance of
91,032 back to its racing roots.
“It is difficult, but it’s things that we like,” Swift said. "It
gives us a challenge and we like challenges.”
The transformation to a baseball diamond in the infield required
17,500 tons of gravel to level the infield, then 340 tons of
Pennsylvania clay for the playing surface.
Braves first baseman Matt Olson said Saturday that he couldn't
believe Bristol was transformed all for one game. Well, everything
that can be recycled will be used somewhere after the baseball
diamond is removed.
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Fans cheer during a flyover before the MLB Speedway Classic baseball
game between the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds at Bristol
Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn., Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP
Photo/George Walker IV)
Some of the gravel will be used in Bristol Motor
Speedway's parking lots. Swift said they have found groups to help
use some of the materials to help people still recovering from the
damages left by Hurricane Helene. That includes 2x4s and plywood
used for the grandstands.
“A lot of stuff is going to go to good use as far as the rebuild
portion," Swift said. "We just need to get it out of the way so we
can put back asphalt and concrete.”
This new renovation schedule has a couple of days built in for
protection. The target date for being finished is Sept. 7.
“There may still be some paint drying whenever they roll in with the
Goodyear haulers, but we’ll definitely shoot for that (Sept. 7)
day," Swift said. "And at the latest, we’re looking at Tuesday.”
Bristol hosted a college football game in 2016 that drew 156,990.
Now the NHL might be in Bristol's future after Sportico reported
Friday that league officials would be checking out how the racetrack
handled Major League Baseball.
When asked about possibly hosting an outdoor hockey game, Swift only
said a hockey rink would be similar to a football field and that
Speedway Motorsports has big dreams for what is possible at places
like Bristol.
“We’ve shown with football and now baseball being here, that things
can take place and we can do the the things that nobody would even
think about,” Swift said.
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