MLB Speedway Classic: What to know about Braves vs Reds with attendance record to fall at the NASCAR stadium
For the first time, a game featuring American teams or the national league will be played in Tennessee. The brave of Atlanta and Cincinnati Reds will meet on Saturday evening at Bristol Motor Speedway, one of the most emblematic songs of Nascar. THE 2025 mlb speedway classic Will be the first match with the Al / NL teams in the state of Tennessee.
“I think it will be quite nice. Giver in game Nascar, and being able to play at the center is pretty cool,” said Braves Righty Grant Holmes at Mlb.com. “… there will be a lot of people there. It will be quite strong. These Nascar fans become quite rowdy.”
The game will be played in the field of Bristol Motor Speedway and several changes must have been made to accommodate a baseball diamond. The walls of the pit, gas pumps and even part of a building had to be deleted. Here’s how you can watch the match on Saturday:
2025 mlb speedway classic
Date: Saturday August 2 | Time7:15 p.m. and
Location: Bristol Motor Speedway (Bristol, Tennessee)
Live flow: FUBO (Start watching, save $ 20!) | Television channel: FOX
Teams: Atlanta Braves against Cincinnati Reds
Probable launchers: RHP Spencer Strider vs Rhp Chase Burns
Odds: Braves (-172), Reds (+142), o / U 9 in Fanduel
Saturday’s match will be the last match in a three -game series for the Braves and the Reds. The first two games were played Thursday and Friday at the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. The Reds will be the Speedway Classic home team, and the two teams will have a rest day on Sunday. Here is what you need to know about the History Speedway Classic on Saturday.
The field of play
The baseball field is set to the speed field of Bristol Motor Speedway between 3 and 4 of the race track. The dimensions of the field are almost symmetrical. It is 330 feet on the lines of the right and left field and 400 feet in the center. It is a little deeper for the left field space (384 feet) than for the right center (375 feet). The arenas are hidden in the corners of the field.
The field itself is Diamond Series Astroturf, the same surface used at Rogers Center, Toronto Blue Jays. After the game, the playing surface will be given to the East Tennessee State University in the city of Johnson City, Tennessee.
A frequentation record will be broken
Bristol Motor Speedway can accommodate 146,000 people for NASCAR events. For Sunday’s match, around two thirds of the installation seats will be used, and temporary seats have been installed behind the marble and along the first and third baselines. More than 85,000 tickets have been sold, which is a new record for an MLB game. The previous record was 84,587 tickets for a match between Cleveland and the New York Yankees at Cleveland Stadium on September 14, 1954.
Unlike the intimate parameters of the Iowa Dream games or the Rickwood field game last year in Birmingham, Alabama, the Speedway Classic on Saturday will be a spectacle of grandeur. The terrain is surrounded by the race track and the size of the installation will make an atmosphere ever seen before for an MLB game.
The teams will wear special uniforms
As a nod to car sports, the brave and the Reds will wear caps and special uniforms with racing car style numbers, among other careful features. Check it:
The two entries have Tennessee roots
The starting launchers on Saturday have roots in Tennessee. Strider was born in Ohio but went to Knoxville high school, about 110 miles northeast of Bristol Motor Speedway. It has 5-8 with an MPM of 3.71 in 14 departures this year. This is the first year of strider of his second UCL surgery in career on his pitching elbow.
As for Burns, he grew up outside Nashville in Gallatin. It’s about 380 miles west of Bristol Motor Speedway. Burns launched for the University of Tennessee in 2022 and 2023 before transferring to Wake Forest for his year of recovery in 2024. The Reds made him the overall choice n ° 2 in the draft last year and Burns is 0-3 with an MPM of 6.27 in six departures this year. These are its beginnings in MLB.
The brave disappointing lasts 46-62 and 13 ½ games behind Joker’s third point. The Reds last 57-53 and 3 ½ games on an after-season berth. Saturday will be a unique experience, but an important game for the Reds nevertheless.
