The Speedway Classic on Aug. 2 will not only give baseball fans the opportunity to see a NASCAR track transformed to host an MLB game, but it will include a unique and massive baseball festival outside the gates to keep fans entertained for hours before first pitch.
Organizers on Tuesday unveiled the Speedway Classic Fan Zone, a 220,000-square-foot area outside Bristol Motor Speedway that will open at noon on gameday and feature a full day of live music, interactive games, a 110-foot Ferris Wheel, batting cages, pitching tunnels, regional food, exhibits, photo opportunities and more.
Speedway Classic '25, presented by BuildSubmarines.com
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Country artist Jake Owen will headline the day's performances, and will later join Tim McGraw and Pitbull for their special pregame concert before the Braves play the Reds in the first AL or NL game ever played in Tennessee. Performances from country artists Timothy Wayne, Reyna Roberts and Adam Doleac are also planned.
"We love putting on big events and creating 'wow' moments," said Jerry Caldwell, president of Bristol Motor Speedway, aka The Last Great Colosseum, noting how the Fan Zone in particular will be a major memory-maker for fans. "It's going to be an event unto itself."
The entire day will be the culmination of months of work to prepare the speedway for baseball. That has meant major renovations inside the track, including demolition work and the removal of various obstacles to create a space suitable for MLB play.
So much work has gone into transforming the speedway that it's "basically not a race track anymore," said Steve Swift, senior vice president of Speedway Motorsports Operations.
Pit walls are gone. Poles have been removed. Gas pumps have been excised, and even part of a building had to be taken out.
"A lot of things had to take place to open up the area," Swift said.
Once open, Major League field dimensions had to be established. The playing field for the Speedway Classic will be 330 feet down the lines, 400 feet to center field and 375 in the alleys, said Murray Cook, a project consultant with BrightView.
The space also required 17,500 tons of gravel in order to level the ground, along with 340 tons of clay, Cook said. The playing surface itself will be made of the same synthetic grass used at Rogers Centre in Toronto, he said.
The prep work has also meant the construction of clubhouses for each team that will include the usual modern amenities found at MLB stadiums, along with additional grandstands and media spaces along the base lines, said Annemarie Roe, president of BaAM Productions, a partner in the event.
Other highlights on gameday will include an MLB Network broadcast from the site, a live ESPN "50 States in 50 Days" broadcast, a beer garden, the Budweiser Clydesdales, Braves and Reds team mascots and MLB-branded race cars.
As the first AL or NL game in Tennessee, the Speedway Classic presented by BuildSubmarines.com will usher in the fifth different state across the country since 2016 to host an MLB game that will be a first-time AL or NL contest in that state.
"It's no doubt it will be one of our most iconic days in baseball and one of the most special days of the 2025 season," said Jeremiah Yolkut, MLB's senior vice president for global events.