For the primary time ever, a sport that includes American or Nationwide League groups might be performed in Tennessee. The Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds will meet Saturday evening at Bristol Motor Speedway, certainly one of NASCAR’s most iconic tracks. The 2025 MLB Speedway Classic would be the first sport with AL/NL groups within the state of Tennessee.
“I assume it is going to be fairly candy. Rising up watching NASCAR races, and having the ability to play within the middle of it’s fairly cool,” Braves righty Grant Holmes told MLB.com. “… There’s going to be lots of people there. It’s going to be fairly loud. These NASCAR followers get fairly rowdy.”
The sport might be performed on the infield at Bristol Motor Speedway and several other adjustments needed to be made to accommodate a baseball diamond. Pit partitions, fuel pumps, and even a part of a constructing needed to be taken down. Here is how one can watch Saturday’s sport:
2025 MLB Speedway Traditional
Date: Saturday, August 2 | Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
Location: Bristol Motor Speedway (Bristol, Tennessee)
Stay stream: Fubo (Begin watching, save $20!) | TV channel: FOX
Groups: Atlanta Braves vs. Cincinnati Reds
Possible pitchers: RHP Spencer Strider vs. RHP Chase Burns
Odds: Braves (-172), Reds (+142), O/U 9 at FanDuel
Saturday’s sport would be the remaining sport of a three-game collection for the Braves and Reds. The primary two video games have been performed on Thursday and Friday at Nice American Ball Park in Cincinnati. The Reds would be the dwelling staff for the Speedway Traditional, and the 2 groups can have an off-day on Sunday. Right here now’s what you’ll want to learn about Saturday’s historic Speedway Traditional.
The sector of play
The baseball discipline is about on the Bristol Motor Speedway infield between Turns 3 and 4 of the race monitor. The scale of the sphere are virtually symmetrical. It’s 330 toes down the correct and left discipline traces, and 400 toes to middle. It’s a little deeper to the left-center discipline hole (384 toes) than it’s to right-center (375 toes). The bullpens are tucked away within the outfield corners.
The sector itself is Diamond Sequence AstroTurf, the identical floor used at Rogers Centre, dwelling of the Toronto Blue Jays. Following the sport, the taking part in floor might be donated to East Tennessee State College in close by Johnson Metropolis, Tennessee.
An attendance report might be damaged
Bristol Motor Speedway seats 146,000 for NASCAR occasions. For Sunday’s sport, roughly two-thirds of the ability’s seats might be used, and momentary seating has been put in behind the plate and alongside the primary and third baselines. Over 85,000 tickets have been offered, which is a brand new report for an MLB sport. The earlier report was 84,587 tickets for a sport between Cleveland and the New York Yankees at Cleveland Stadium on Sept. 14, 1954.
Not like the intimate settings of the Area of Desires Recreation in Iowa or final 12 months’s Rickwood Area sport in Birmingham, Alabama, Saturday’s Speedway Traditional might be a spectacle of grandeur. The sector is surrounded by the race monitor and the sheer measurement of the ability will make for an environment by no means earlier than seen for an MLB sport.
The groups will put on particular uniforms
As a nod to motorsports, the Braves and Reds will put on particular caps and uniforms with race automotive model numbers Saturday, amongst different neat options. Test it out:
Each starters have Tennessee roots
Saturday’s beginning pitchers each have roots in Tennessee. Strider was born in Ohio however went to highschool in Knoxville, about 110 miles northeast of Bristol Motor Speedway. He’s 5-8 with a 3.71 ERA in 14 begins this 12 months. That is Strider’s first 12 months again from his second profession UCL surgical procedure on his pitching elbow.
As for Burns, he grew up outdoors Nashville in Gallatin. That is about 380 miles west of Bristol Motor Speedway. Burns pitched for the College of Tennessee in 2022 and 2023 earlier than transferring to Wake Forest for his draft 12 months in 2024. The Reds made him the No. 2 total decide in final 12 months’s draft and Burns is 0-3 with a 6.27 ERA in six begins this 12 months. It’s his MLB debut.
The disappointing Braves are 46-62 and 13 ½ video games behind the third wild card spot. The Reds are 57-53 and three ½ video games out of a postseason berth. Saturday might be a singular expertise, however an necessary sport for the Reds nonetheless.