Latest news with #BenEarp
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
MLB, NASCAR stars talk the legends of Bristol as racetrack transforms for historic ballgame
FILE - Michael Waltrip looks on at the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race in Daytona Beach, Fla. on Feb. 14, 2010. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter, File) Construction is shown of the baseball field being constructed during a Speedway Classic Open House Event at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Ben Earp/Ben Earp Photography via AP) FILE - Michael Waltrip looks on at the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race in Daytona Beach, Fla. on Feb. 14, 2010. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter, File) Construction is shown of the baseball field being constructed during a Speedway Classic Open House Event at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Ben Earp/Ben Earp Photography via AP) NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. advises the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves to watch a couple of night races at Bristol Motor Speedway before the Speedway Classic. Once at the racetrack, he recommends a walk up the banked walls to truly appreciate the half-mile bullring. MLB's Speedway Classic on Aug. 2 means either the Reds or Braves will win at Bristol before Stenhouse reaches victory lane at his favorite track. He still plans to watch as they play an MLB game on a ballpark built inside the Bristol infield. Advertisement 'Hopefully, if they get one over the wall, kind of see where that ball ends up landing," Stenhouse said of the track where going over the wall usually means injuries and ambulances. "But, yeah, just a really cool venue and something that I'll be looking forward to watching.' Two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip, now a Fox racing analyst, said search his 1990 crash where his car disintegrated after hitting a wall to learn how challenging Bristol can be. He joined Stenhouse, former Braves centerfielder Andruw Jones, 2009 World Series champ Nick Swisher and three-time All-Star Reds first baseman and now MLB Network analyst Sean Casey in promoting the first MLB game in the state of Tennessee. Waltrip said the banking of the track has to be seen to be believed and is a big part of its intensity. Advertisement 'The banking is straight up," Waltrip said. 'You can barely climb up it, and it's condensed down to a half-mile track. So you're just constantly in the corners and speeds upwards of 150 miles an hour. It's just crazy how precise and how technical you have to be to be successful there.' Trying to hit a baseball might be a bit easier than stepping into a racecar at Bristol. At those speeds, Stenhouse said he forgot to breathe for 10 laps his first time there. Bristol still has tickets available for an event that will feature a pregame concert with Tim McGraw and Pitbull. A fan zone outside the track will feature more music, a 110-foot Ferris wheel, a food truck row, pitching tunnels and batting cages and team mascots. 'It's going to be one of those special nights that goes down in history," said Jerry Caldwell, president of Bristol Motor Speedway. 'People are going to want to be there and want to be a part of it or tune in on Fox and take in this event.' Advertisement Casey played in a March 2008 exhibition between the Red Sox and Dodgers at Los Angeles Coliseum that drew 115,300 for the largest crowd ever to see a baseball game. Casey said this crossover gives baseball fans a reason to check out Bristol and NASCAR fans the chance to see something different. Players like Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz and Atlanta outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. will get an experience to remember. "These guys that are going to be able to have that memory of playing at Bristol, it's going to be a one of a kind thing,' Casey said. Stenhouse said he played some wiffle ball during the last stop in Bristol. NASCAR will be in Iowa with a Cup race Aug. 3, but he hopes to sneak over from his North Carolina home for a chance to hit some hard balls over the fence at Bristol — or pitch off the mound. Advertisement 'I hit a wiffle ball over the fence,' Stenhouse said. "Yeah, it would be cool to get there and take the field in all at the same time.' ___ AP Baseball Writer Ron Blum contributed to this report from New York. ___ AP MLB: and AP auto racing:
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Race track to MLB field: Bristol's transformation shifts into high gear
Construction is shown of the baseball field being constructed during a Speedway Classic Open House Event at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Ben Earp/Ben Earp Photography via AP) MLB Speedway Classic Open House Event marking the construction of a baseball field at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn., Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Ben Earp/Ben Earp Photography via AP) MLB Speedway Classic Open House Event marking the construction of a baseball field at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn., Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Ben Earp/Ben Earp Photography via AP) Construction is shown of the baseball field being constructed during a Speedway Classic Open House Event at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Ben Earp/Ben Earp Photography via AP) MLB Speedway Classic Open House Event marking the construction of a baseball field at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn., Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Ben Earp/Ben Earp Photography via AP) Turning a race track into a baseball field worthy of hosting Major League Baseball takes time and a plan. Demolition started in early June with heavy construction now in high gear to transform Bristol Motor Speedway into a ballpark — if only for the Aug. 2 Speedway Classic between the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds in the first MLB game in the state of Tennessee. Advertisement As of Tuesday, Bristol no longer is a racetrack. 'It's not going to be good to have a 2-foot wall ... in the outfield for a player to run into, so naturally those had to go,' Steve Swift, senior vice president of operations development for Speedway Motorsports, said. Turning this track into a ballpark requires about 17,500 tons of gravel to level the infield. Murray Cook, president of BrightView Sports Turf Division, said trucks will start bringing in 340 tons of Pennsylvania clay for the playing surface later this week. The grass will be synthetic with 124,000 square feet set to be laid down with this field using the same surface as the Blue Jays in Toronto. There will be fencing, padding and foul poles. Musco Sports Lighting is adding 215 lights to the top of the track so no ball should be lost in a shadow. Advertisement 'The field obviously is a big part of this event, and we're making it as Major League level as it needs to be for this game,' Cook said. Hosting an MLB game requires much more than just a field. BaAM is helping MLB and Bristol so that the teams have locker rooms complete with showers, strength and conditioning rooms, coach and trainers' offices, batting cages and even a full weight room. 'Everything that we're going to do is temporary in nature, and it's been precisely planned layers and layers," BaAM president Annemarie Roe said. "We have about 33 days from today until we hand over to baseball operations.' There will be grandstands down both the first- and third-base lines with broadcast booths, camera platforms, media positions and video replay included along with audio and video components. Concessions and merchandise will be available for fans on game day. Advertisement For any players wanting to go over the wall, they'll have to carry 400 feet to clear centerfield, 375 in the alleys and 330 down each base line. True renovations always reveal something owners don't expect. Same goes for Bristol officials who found out they won't have to replace everything after Aug. 2. Swift said they won't have to replace the Sunoco pumps and tanks with NASCAR now bringing those to each race. The Sunoco signs also are gone to avoid sitting in centerfield. Half an infield building was removed to clear space for the outfield wall. Bristol has loads of experience with extreme track makeovers from bringing in dump trucks of dirt for races. This track hosted a college football game in the Battle of Bristol, drawing an NCAA-record 156,990 fans in 2016. Advertisement Interest has been big, and MLB is planning a lot of events before the first pitch with Pitbull and Tim McGraw already set for a pregame concert from a stage in the infield. Country star Jake Owen will highlight more performances outside the track announced Tuesday. The fan zone also will feature the Commissioner's Trophy, a 110-foot Ferris Wheel, a food truck row, pitching tunnels and batting cages, team mascots and being Bristol — branded MLB stock cars for photos. Bristol will have a chance at the record for the largest crowd to see a baseball game. A March 2008 exhibition between the Red Sox and Dodgers at Los Angeles Coliseum drew 115,300. Once the Reds and Braves wrap up and all the fans leave, the next challenge begins. Bristol will race against the clock to turn the field back into a track for a night race in the NASCAR playoffs Sept. 13. 'There's the right way, the wrong way, and the speedway,' Swift said. ___ AP MLB: and AP auto racing:
