MLB Speedway Classic

MLB Speedway Classic

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Atlanta Braves                         Cincinnati Reds
Date	August 2, 2025 (2025-08-02)
Venue	Bristol Motor Speedway
City	Bristol, Tennessee
Managers	Brian Snitker (Atlanta Braves) Terry Francona (Cincinnati Reds)
Attendance	100,000 (expected)
Time of game	7:15 EDT
Television	Fox
TV announcers	Joe Davis (play-by-play) John Smoltz (analyst) Ken Rosenthal (reporter) Tom Verducci (reporter)

The MLB Speedway Classic is an upcoming Major League Baseball (MLB) specialty game to be played between the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds on August 2, 2025. The game will be played in the infield of Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, the home of a 146,000 seat NASCAR racetrack. This will be the first regular-season Major League Baseball (MLB) game played in the state of Tennessee.

An attendance of over 100,000 people is being expected for this game. It is possible that the game could set a new all-time attendance record, which currently stands at 115,300 people for a preseason game between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers which was held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on March 29, 2008.

Background

Interior of Bristol Motor Speedway

On August 6, 2024, reports surfaced that the Braves and Reds would play a game at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2025. Three days later, on August 9, MLB revealed the game would be happening, under the name, Speedway Classic '25.

Construction & Field Dimensions

Bristol Motor Speedway map

The field dimensions for the MLB Speedway Classic will consist of the dimensions being 330 feet down each of the foul lines, 400 feet to center field, 375 feet to the right-field alley, and 384 feet to the left-field alley. The diamond being built across the track and infield of the speedway, primarily situated between Turns 3 and 4 of the track (south west section of the speedway).

In late June 2025, construction started for the conversion of Bristol Motor Speedway. On June 25, AstroTurf announced they were selected as surface provider for the game, thereby the game will be played on artificial turf instead of natural grass.

Pregame

Like previous MLB Specialty Games, Bristol Motor Speedway will host a pregame concert. Bristol is a border city divided by the Tennessee and Virginia state lines, and is known as the “birthplace of country music." In celebration of those roots, Grammy Award-winning artist Tim McGraw will headline a special pregame concert leading into the MLB Speedway Classic. The concert will also include Grammy-winning global sensation Pitbull. The concert will start approximately one hour before the first pitch and Fox plans to feature portions of the performance during its pregame event coverage.

See also

• List of neutral site regular season Major League Baseball games played in the United States and Canada
• Battle at Bristol, a college football game held at the same venue.