Rain Dampens MLB’s Crown Jewel: 2025 Speedway Classic

Photos by David Welch, Stadium Journey

Billed as the largest crowd ever for a regular season Major League Baseball game (91,032 attendees), the Speedway Classic at Bristol Motor Speedway got hit with the red flag after just seven batters came to the plate, due to rain. Low clouds filled the valleys of Bristol, Tennessee throughout the morning, taunting fans who had fired up grills in the parking lots or wandered into the MLB Speedway Classic Fan Zone for early festivities.

The Fan Zone featured interactive games, photo ops with the World Series trophy, a large “It’s Bristol Baby!” sign, and team specific graphics, and food trucks, while a live concert stage entertained fans throughout the day, headlined by Jake Owen. A towering 110-foot Ferris wheel spun next to the stage, while the Legacy Walk paid tribute to Reds and Braves legends. The fan zone also served as the backdrop for several national television pregame broadcasts, drawing heavy traffic in the hours leading to first pitch.

While the Fan Zone had plenty to keep fans entertained before the gates opened, it did feel as if the space was too small for the size of the crowd. Congestion bottlenecked at entry points near the lower level and cell reception was limited, making it difficult to access ticketing apps. The stadium’s public Wi-Fi also became overwhelmed as more fans started to use it due to poor phone reception.

As the intermittent rain intensified, Tim McGraw took the stage for the pregame concert, joined by cameos from Jake Owen and Pitbull. The performance closed with an emotional tribute, as McGraw sang “Live Like You Were Dying” while footage of his father, Tug McGraw, sealing the Phillies’ 1980 World Series championship played on stadium screens, sparking a loud cheer from the growing crowd. However, while McGraw’s set likely thrilled die-hard McGraw fans, only a handful of songs would have been familiar to more casual country music listeners. Meanwhile, Pitbull’s brief and limited appearance during the encore, despite his being promoted as a featured performer, was disappointing.

As McGraw’s set wrapped up, players climbed into team-colored pickup trucks, the Braves in blue and white and the Reds in red and white, and paraded around the track to kick off player introductions. As the starting lineups were introduced, players emerged from center field between customized Braves and Reds stock cars, as smoke machines disguised as stacks of tires shot smoke into the air. Pit crews held out pit signs with each player’s number, as if signaling a race car in for a pit stop. Meanwhile, rain continued to fall steadily throughout the National Anthem, which was capped by a flyover from four Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets.

As the roar of the jets faded, National Baseball Hall of Famers Chipper Jones and Johnny Bench took the field for the ceremonial first pitch, but the moment took a NASCAR turn. Chase Elliott, representing the Braves, and Kyle Busch, a longtime Reds fan, joined the two Hall of Famers; Jones threw to Elliott, while Bench assumed his familiar position behind home plate when Busch threw to him.

Shortly following the opening pitches, the rain began to intensify. The grounds crew rushed out like a NASCAR pit crew jumping over the wall for a four-tire change and splash of gasoline, quickly pulling the tarp across the infield as fans scrambled to the concourse for cover. As the rain picked up the aluminum bleachers leaked rainwater onto the concourses below, with the lower levels taking the brunt of the cascading flows. The delay stretched to 2 hours and 17 minutes, during which time concession lines grew and several stands ran out of essentials like hot dog buns, nacho cheese, and beer. Shortly after 9:40 pm, the game finally saw its first pitch.

Reds’ starter Chase Burns retired the Braves in order during the top of the inning, through an increasingly steadying rain. Braves starter Austin Cox was pressed into service after Spencer Strider was scratched due to the extended delay. The Reds struck early, grabbing a 1–0 lead on an Austin Hays RBI single past a diving Austin Riley, scoring Matt McLain as the rain again picked up, sending the grounds crew back onto the field in an attempt to sop up the growing quagmire of an infield. Unfortunately their efforts were in vain, and after another extended delay the game was hit with the black flag, suspended to be resumed the next day.

Those relying on rideshare apps waited for hours, hoping to reach nearby hotels or neighboring towns. The night ended far from how anyone had envisioned it. The suspended game resumed Sunday afternoon, and in response to dwindling concessions from the night before, fans were allowed to bring in their own food and water, a welcome change that helped ease some of the frustration from the night before.

The Reds led 1–0, but that advantage vanished faster than Ryan Blaney’s 132 mph track-record lap. The Braves turned to their third pitcher before the end of the 1st inning, Hurston Waldrep, who had spent the previous night with Triple-A Gwinnett before making the 5 1/2-hour drive to Bristol early Sunday morning.

Waldrep entered with runners on first and third with one out and escaped the jam unscathed, with Atlanta allowing just the one run from the night before. In the Braves’ half of the 2nd inning, Reds reliever Brent Suter retired the first two batters before giving up back-to-back hits to Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies. Then, Eli White blasted a 2-1 changeup over the left field wall for a three-run homer, triggering the crowd-pleasing “Home Run Car”, a custom Corvette circling the track with a Home Run flag rippling out of its passenger side window, to the delight of fans gathered along the SAFER barrier.

Waldrep’s lone blemish was a sacrifice fly off the bat of Matt McClain, who would account for both of the Reds’ runs in the game. But this game belonged to Eli White, who launched his second homer of the game in the 7^th inning, a solo shot to left center, giving Atlanta a 4–2 lead. The Reds threatened in the 8th but could not push a run across. Much in NASCAR fashion, the star for the victorious Braves, White, hoisted the Speedway Classic trophy above his head in celebration, as the Braves mascot triumphantly waved a massive Speedway Classic flag from the mound.

Major League Baseball deserves credit for thinking outside the box and bringing a regular season game to such an unexpected venue. This marked the first MLB game ever played in Tennessee, and staging it inside a NASCAR track gave it a sense of uniqueness.

Unfortunately, much of that magic was dampened, literally, by rain delays and logistical hiccups. While fans will remember the novelty, many will also recall the frustration and fatigue. MLB should be applauded for innovation, but future events of this scale deserve smoother execution to ensure fans leave with nothing but great memories.