MLB Speedway Classic '25

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Atlanta Braves 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 10 0 Cincinnati Reds 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 10 0
Date	August 2–3, 2025[a]
Venue	Bristol Motor Speedway
City	Bristol, Tennessee
Managers	Brian Snitker (Atlanta Braves) Terry Francona (Cincinnati Reds)
Umpires	HP:Will Little 1B:Ryan Additon 2B:Junior Valentine 3B:Lance Barksdale[b]
Attendance	91,032
Time of game	9:40 PM EDT (Aug 2)[c] 1:00 PM EDT (Aug 3)
Ceremonial first pitch	Chipper Jones,Kyle Busch[d]
Television	Fox
TV announcers	Joe Davis (play-by-play) John Smoltz (analyst) Ken Rosenthal (reporter) Tom Verducci (reporter)

TheMLB Speedway Classic, also known as theMLB Speedway Classic '25, was aMajor League Baseball (MLB)specialty game between theAtlanta Braves and theCincinnati Reds, which began on August 2, 2025, and continued on the weekend'srain date of August 3, 2025, due to continuing showers and poor field conditions on its original date. The Braves defeated the Reds, 4–2.^[3] The game was played in the infield ofBristol Motor Speedway inBristol, Tennessee, the home of a 146,000-seatNASCARracetrack. This was the first regular-seasonNational League orAmerican League game played in the state ofTennessee.^[4][5]

An attendance of 91,032 set a new all-time regular-season game attendance record, exceeded only by the attendance of 115,300 at a preseason game between theBoston Red Sox andLos Angeles Dodgers at theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum on March 29, 2008.^[6]

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.^[7][8]

The field dimensions for the MLB Speedway Classic were 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 was 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). Turns 1 and 2 would have a stage for the pregame concert.^[9]In late June 2025, construction started for the conversion of Bristol Motor Speedway. The field was announced to beAstroTurf-providedartificial turf surface with a traditional dirt infield on June 25, due to the asphalt and concrete surface of its footprint providing a poor bed fornatural grass, and to allow the turf to be re-used for other purposes after the game.^[10]

Like previousMLB Specialty Games, Bristol Motor Speedway hosted 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 artistTim McGraw would headline a special pregame concert leading into the MLB Speedway Classic. The concert will also includeGrammy-winning artistPitbull, andJake Owen.^[11] The concert started approximately one hour before the first pitch and Fox featured portions of the performance during its pregame event coverage.^[12]

Along with the concert, there was also a fan zone outside of the stadium that features a full day of live music including Owen, Timothy Wayne,Reyna Roberts, andAdam Doleac. There were also interactive games, a 110-footFerris wheel, batting cages, pitching tunnels, regional food, exhibits, and photo opportunities.^[13]

In early July, reports surfaced that the Braves jerseys were navy with gray pants, and featured an italicized font for the numbers on the back of the jerseys. There was also a sleeve patch that had the MLB Speedway Classic '25 logo on it.^[14] On July 21, MLB released the uniform concepts for both teams, with the Braves having a navy hat with red flames on the brim. The Reds wore their white uniforms also with the italicized numbers on the front and back of their jerseys, and with their red hat with a black brim with acheckerboard pattern.^[15]

Reds catcherTyler Stephenson revealed his catcher's gear for the game, which was influenced by Ricky Bobby from the 2006 movieTalladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby with aWonder Bread style design.^[16]

On July 31,Major League BaseballUmpire Crew I was assigned for the Speedway Classic series.Johnson City, TN nativeWill Little worked behind the plate calling balls and strikes, whileRyan Additon was the first base umpire.Ryan Willis was replaced by Tennessee nativeJunior Valentine at second base for the game, and crew chiefLance Barksdale oversaw third base. Little grew up less than 20 miles away fromBristol Motor Speedway, and the Speedway Classic would be a homecoming for him.^[17]

The game was the first regular season MLB game in the state ofTennessee, and the first MLB game played on arace track. The game was on the first Saturday of August, and was the finale of a three-game series with the first two games being played atGreat American Ball Park inCincinnati.^[18]

During the days leading up to the special event,Major League BaseballcommissionerRob Manfred revealed a plan to push the game back to August 3 if the game were to be deemed unplayable due to inclement weather on August 2.Spencer Strider of Atlanta andChase Burns of Cincinnati, both Tennessee natives, were supposed to start the game for their respective ball clubs for the Speedway Classic. During the pregame, the players rode around inChevrolet pickup trucks asPitbull andTim McGraw performed songs including "I Like It, I Love It" during the pregame concert. The players then entered through the outfield for their team introductions, and just after warming up, thegrounds crew rolled the tarp out onto the field. Heavy downpours persisted, and following a two-hour, 25 minuterain delay,Austin Cox replaced Strider as the Braves starter at the 9:40 p.m. first pitch.^[21]

August 2:During the first pitch by Chase Burns, it was still lightly raining as he struck outJurickson Profar andAustin Riley for a 1-2-3 inning. In the bottom of the first,Matt McLain andElly De La Cruz both reached on infield singles with showers dumping onto the infield.Austin Hays singled to left and drove home McLain, giving the Reds an early 1–0 lead. Water began to pool on the infield during the bottom of the first inning which caused the umpires tosuspend the game after four batters in the bottom of the first. Only 16 minutes into the game, the grounds-keeping crew tried to dry out and remove puddles of water by pouring clay and raking the infield, then tarped the field. At 10:25 p.m., it was announced that the game was suspended and would resume the following day at 1 p.m.^[22]

August 3:On August 3, at 1 p.m. EDT, during the resumption of the bottom of the first, De La Cruz immediately stole third base off of pitcherHurston Waldrep who drove five hours before the game fromAAA Gwinnett after getting recalled.Miguel Andujar then hit a ball to third, and Riley ran De La Cruz down to tag him out at home. The Braves answered in the top of the second with singles from Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies, which led to a 3-run home run by Eli White, giving the Braves a 3–1 lead. In the bottom of the 2nd, with the bases loaded, McClain hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Tyler Stephenson to cut the deficit to 3–2. After dominant outings by Waldrep,Luis Mey, andSam Moll,Scott Barlow was chosen to pitch the 7th inning for the Reds, and gave up a solo-home run to White for his second home run of the game. In the bottom of the 9th inning with a 4–2 lead,Raisel Iglesias came into close the game. After two singles given up toTJ Friedl and McClain, Iglesias retired the side by striking out De La Cruz, fouling out Hayes, and poppingpinch hitterJake Fraley to get the save, and the Speedway Classic trophy.

Batting

Pitching

• 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.

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