2025 MLB Speedway Classic

[Amazin69]

I see that pretty much every seat under $200 is garbage. (Maybe the first few rows of the $100 Yarboroughs [but most of those are blocked by the scoreboard, anyhow], but you'd be so far away…I couldn't stand having to look across the running track at the LA Coliseum before the Raiders made the Commission remove it…looking across a race track and a bunch of open space to peep over the LF fence? Pass.)

But if WWE has taught us anything lately, it's that this country is full of fools willing to overpay on cheap credit and worry about it later. Light 'em up!

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Jeez, they really are going to cram everything in there. So, the question stands: game, race . . . and concert . . . all in one day?

With a little luck, they'll even let the lions loose in the seventh inning!

But no, there will not be a NASCAR race that weekend. The remaining Cup race for Bristol, the Bass Pro Shops Night Race, is on September 13. The lower series' races are that same week.

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

There is something else that is weird about this. At first, I thought the event was being co-sponsored by Speedway, the convenience store and fuel station chain.

Attachment 1069840

But no. I see that "Speedway" comes from the name of the racetrack. If you look closely, you see that the 2025 MLB Speedway Classic is presented by BUILDSUBMARINES.COM.

Attachment 1069839

Now, I don't play them but I know of online tank battling games such as World of Tanks in which I believe you can build and customize your own tanks (in exchange for microtransaction fees). I honestly thought BUILDSUBMARINES.COM was something like that.

But no. Their website, https://www.buildsubmarines.com/, does say "Want to build submarines?" but then goes on to say "BuildSubmarines.com connects job seekers with companies currently manufacturing the U.S. Navy’s next-gen submarines. Our site is your launchpad for building a lasting career and taking part in this historic effort." I was afraid to click any further for fear of being drafted or investigated.

A strange outfit to be listed as presenting (which I read as sponsoring) an event like this, no?

EDIT: I put on my big boy pants and clicked around there. It seems to be a "front" (for want of a better term) for the U.S. Navy's nuclear submarine program. That would explain a lot.

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Why on earth would a company centered on submarines sponsor a car track in Tennessee? I assume these subs are the 100 footers not the foot longs.

Build Submarines has been a very prominent NASCAR sponsor for the last year or two as well, rotating between the Roush-Fenway-Keselowski (RFK) cars of Brad Keselowski and Ryan Preece especially.

That's the same Fenway as in Fenway Park, btw. John W. Henry has held a 50% stake in the team for about 20 years. Not sure whether it's still 50% since Keselowski has bought in.

I could go on a long rant about World of Tanks as well as a recovering addict in that field, but I think we're deep enough down just with the NASCAR excursions...

[Déjà Bru]

I have an odd interest in this event. Not enough to prompt me to fly (heaven forbid; not a fear of flying but a fear of airlines and the whole hellish experience) or drive to Bristol TN but enough for me to be interested in marking my calendar and seeing if it's on the old telly. But probably it will be farmed out to some outfit named The FUBAR Network or something (intentional acronym whimsy). As I said elsewhere, I balk at Balkanization.

[Déjà Bru]

I ran across this just now.

Cool timelapse video shows MLB Speedway Classic diamond taking shape inside BMS infield

It covers eight days, counting by the sundowns. Watch the giant crane that they bring in on day 6 and 7. It whips around like crazy!

[Déjà Bru]

They have sold 85,000 tickets for this event. It breaks a record for MLB attendance.

For one day only, MLB is turning a NASCAR track into a record-breaking stadium

Organizers had only weeks to construct an MLB-ready field inside Tennessee's Bristol Motor Speedway. The payoff? More than 85,000 fans.

More than 85,000 tickets have been sold for a matchup dubbed the “Speedway Classic,” a number that will break the league’s attendance record of 84,587 set in 1954 when the New York Yankees visited Cleveland.

That has to be qualified, however, because it would be a regular season attendance record. Exhibitions and the 1959 World Series at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum drew crowds in excess of 90,000.

[Déjà Bru]

The ballfield does look great.



The questions are, what is to be done with it after this? If it's to be removed, then why was this done? Will all of this have made money, net? That seems hard to believe.

Special uniforms with race car style numbers and other related features:

[low]

I'm probably in the minority, but I really like the hats. Unsure about the numbers. I get it, but...

[Cobra Mgr]

Cool jerseys

[Pelican]

The Field of Dreams Tim Anderson game was epic. I'm partial, having been to Dyersville and played.

This is the Appalachian version of that, so to speak. They have nothing in common save reaching out to people and regions not generally connected to baseball. The dimensions are fine. Baseball is baseball. I hope it is not too hot.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Pelican

I hope it is not too hot.

Nope, rain is more of a problem. But it looks from the local weather map that, while it may let up only to have it return, ultimately it will clear up to allow the game to proceed. Fox is probably having a baby, though, with any prolonged rain delay.

[Cobra Mgr]

[Déjà Bru]

Game delayed two hours so far. Alex, Derek, and Big Papi are running out of schtick and they are looking (and sounding) tired. I just tuned back in; the feature at that moment was Ortiz had decamped for the stadium bar where he was roiling up the drunks.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Game delayed two hours so far. Alex, Derek, and Big Papi are running out of schtick and they are looking (and sounding) tired. I just tuned back in; the feature at that moment was Ortiz had decamped for the stadium bar where he was roiling up the drunks.

I just saw: 9:40 PM ET scheduled start! Fox must be livid. I imagine calls to Washington and resulting tweets, complaining and blaming about the weather. Whom is there to fire for this?

[Déjà Bru]

Oh, man. Any other place and time, and this would be a rainout. The game must go on, though. I would say, from the cheesy mashup of baseball and car racing, complete with stupid real and animated antics; the two and a half hours of rain delay filler; and now this scene — it looks like a monsoon — this event was a bust.

[Déjà Bru]

At 10:30 PM ET, they finally called for a suspension of play. I checked; both teams have a day off scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday, but the Braves have to be back in Atlanta and the Reds go to Chicago on Monday. That means a 1PM game time. They could have made this decision hours ago.

[Westheim]

I am experiencing a severe case of schadenfreude.

[Déjà Bru]

In the end, it was just another baseball game, great in and of itself. I could have done without the pomp, pontification, and silliness (e.g., the "Home Run Car" which races around the track to celebrate the feat, and no matter which team hits it) but I can see how it sells.

Incidentally, I'm not the only one who is wondering what will happen to the ballfield now that this Speedway Classic is over. Answer: it's gone. It's hard to fathom on the one hand, but it stands to reason on the other; they are not going to have a permanent ballfield in the middle of Bristol Motor Speedway. By analogy as to why, according to this source, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Infield has these uses:

FOR THE FANS:
> There are grand stands and grassy hills for watching a race.
> Some fans have a relaxing picnic in the infield on less busy practice days
> Giant music concerts are held there.
> The spectacular Racing Museum is there and they offers tours.
> Many food vendors and gift shops are scattered about.
> There is glamping and tiny houses for spending the night.
> A nice golf course that sits east of the track has 4 of it's holes in the infield.
> There are usually car shows going on.
> There is a midway with all manner of things to see and do.
> There is a Kids Zone with many fun things for children.
> Fans can access the garage area or the pits with special passes, or they can stand along side Gasoline Alley and watch the cars and drivers go back and forth to the track.
> There is a Party Deck in the northwest section.
> There are many types of business suites for hosting parties.

And of course, all the things needed by RACE TEAMS are there, such as:
> Garages
> Parking for their semi-trailers and motor coaches
> Fuel stations and Tire stores

So, all of it gets torn down. Perhaps some of it will be reused for next year. One nice result: "Bristol Motor Speedway and MLB announced Aug. 1 that the [Astro]turf will be donated to the ETSU [East Tennessee State University] baseball program and be installed at [ETSU's] Thomas Stadium."

Fun fact: Bristol, Tennesee, and Bristol, Virginia are actually one and the same town. Its main street is called State Street and the state boundary line runs right down the middle of it. In this photo, Tennessee is on the left and Virginia is on the right.



Another fact: The speedway is definitely in Tennessee, about 6.5 miles from Bristol. Although it is closer to Bluff City and Blountville, it apparently takes its name from the much larger town of Bristol to the northeast.