MLB goes full NASCAR with Braves, Reds uniforms for Speedway Classic at Bristol
This will be the first-ever MLB game played at a NASCAR track, and the teams involved are going all-out for their part in league history.
On Monday, July 21, the Cincinnati Reds unveiled the uniforms they plan to wear for the contest: white jerseys equipped with classic checkered flag patterns and numbers in the same style seen on drivers' cars.
The Braves also revealed their jerseys, which will feature similar NASCAR-inspired numbers, as well as a new ballcap designed by New Era with hod rod flames across the brim.
The Aug. 2 game will count as a Reds home game and will be proceeded by games against the Braves at Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park on July 31 and Aug. 1.
The game will be held a little more than a month before the speedway, know as "The Last Great Colosseum," hosts NASCAR's annual Bristol Night Race on Saturday, Sept. 13. The baseball field will be set in the middle of the track's infield.
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Are there any other specialty pieces of gear for this game?
Rawlings has designed new batting helmets directly modeled after racing helmets for this game.
Furthermore, Reds' catcher Tyler Stephenson has already revealed a custom chest plate for the game, modeled after the movie 'Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.'
The straps on the back of the protector include the famous line from the movie: "If you ain't first, you're last."
Has Bristol hosted other major sporting events?
Bristol Motor Speedway anually hosts two NASCAR weekends a year – one in the spring and one in late summer or early fall.
The speedway hosted a college football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Virginia Tech Hokies in 2016, which had almost 157,000 fans in attendance.
Partnership with MLB: The Show
The Bristol Motor Speedway ballpark as well as the Reds' and Braves' specialty uniforms are expected to be available to play with in the popular baseball video game MLB: The Show 25.
What other fanfare will be at the Speedway Classic?
There will be a pregame concert headlined by Tim McGraw, Pitbull, and Jake Owen. Owen will host a full day of musical sets in a dedicated fan zone at the venue, per Bristol Motor Speedway. The Commissioner's Trophy is also expected to make an appearance, giving fans a once in a lifetime opportunity to take photographs with baseball's most coveted trophy.
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The beloved Sesame Street character, who served as the Brickyard's grand marshal, attended driver introductions and took a handful of questions before the race and even offered some advice to the drivers. 'Don't stop and ask for directions,' the furry blue character said. Up next
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It also snapped a 100-race winless streak that dated to 2022 at Kansas and locked up a playoff spot. His only other win came at Talladega in 2021. The final gap was 0.222 seconds, but that was no measure of the consternation he faced. Larson cut a 5.057-second deficit with 14 laps to go to about three seconds with six laps left as the yellow flag came out for the rain. The cars then rolled to a stop on pit lane with four laps remaining, forcing Wallace to think and rethink his restart strategy. 'The whole time I'm thinking are we going? Are we not?' he said. 'I will say I leaned more towards 'I know we're going to go back racing. Be ready. Don't get complacent here.' Wallace made sure of it. He beat Larson through the second turn on the first restart only to have a crash behind him force a second overtime, forcing his crew to recalculate whether they had enough fuel to finish the race or whether he needed to surrender the lead and refuel. In Wallace's mind, there was no choice. 'The first thing that went through my mind was, 'Here we go again,'' he said. 'But then I said, `I want to win this straight up. I want to go back racing.' Here we are.' He beat Larson off the restart again and pulled away, preventing Larson from becoming the race's fourth back-to-back winner. The victory also alleviated the frustration Wallace felt Saturday when he spent most of the qualifying session on the provisional pole only to see Chase Briscoe claim the No. 1 starting spot with one of the last runs in the session. On Sunday, he made sure there was no repeat, providing an added boost to the 23XI Racing team co-owned by basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and last week's race winner, Denny Hamlin, as it continues to battle NASCAR in court over its charter status. 'Those last 20 laps there were ups and downs and I was telling myself 'You won't be able to do it,'' Wallace said. 'Once I'd seen it was Larson, I knew he won here last year and he's arguably the best in the field. So to beat the best, we had to be the best today.' The other big race — the In-Season Challenge — went to Ty Gibbs, who had a better car than Ty Dillon in qualifying and on race day. Gibbs finished 21st o win the inaugural March Madness-like single-elimination tournament and collect the $1 million prize. Dillon, a surprise championship round entrant after making the field as the 32nd and final driver, finished 28th. 'They brought me money guns and they jammed so I decided to take all the money and throwing it to the fans and they were all wrestling and fighting over it,' said Gibbs, who also received a title belt and a ring. 'But it's super cool. It's a cool opportunity.' Tire troubles At different points, Austin Cindric and three-time Cup champion Joey Logano appeared to be in control of the race, but tire problems took them out of contention. Eric Jones also was knocked out of the race when his right front tire came off between Turns 3 and 4, sending him hard into the outside wall on Lap 91. They weren't the only drivers who made early exits. Ross Chastain was the first out after just 18 laps when a tap from Michael McDowell sent Chastain's car spinning into the third turn wall and caused heavy damage. The others who were out before Lap 100 were Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Cody Ware. Weathering the storm Series officials were concerned enough about the threat of rain that they moved up the start time by 10 minutes. Fifteen minutes probably would have eliminated the rain delay. But the threat of rain impacted the race long before the delay. Early in the second stage, some teams informed drivers rain was expected near the midway point and it seemed to increase the aggressiveness earlier in the race than expected. Monster advice Cookie Monster made it to the track Sunday, too. The beloved Sesame Street character, who served as the Brickyard's grand marshal, attended driver introductions and took a handful of questions before the race and even offered some advice to the drivers. 'Don't stop and ask for directions,' the furry blue character said. Up next Cup drivers will continue their brief Midwestern tour next Sunday when they race at Iowa. ___ AP auto racing: Michael Marot, The Associated Press
