BMS thinks outside the box for major events

No idea seems too far-fetched for Bristol Motor Speedway.

When it was first reported the NASCAR track was planning to host a Major League Baseball game, there were plenty of questions and plenty of skeptics.

It wasnt fake news as it became official months later the MLB Speedway Classic between the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds was scheduled for August 2, 2025.

Since then, theres been an incredible transformation to create an Infield of Dreams at the iconic speedway.

Weve been talking about this for really, 3-4 years now, and were able to see all of this come together, BMS President Jerry Caldwell said.

The buzz in the infield, around the facility and in the community is something for us all to get excited about.

Bold ideas are nothing new as Bristol Motor Speedway has become more than a race track, but one of the greatest entertainment venues in the world.

For two decades, the buzz was to convert it into a massive football stadium.

They did that in 2016 with Tennessee and Virginia Tech playing the Battle at Bristol in front of a world-record 156,990 people in attendance.

They followed it up with East Tennessee State having a record home crowd a week later with their win over Western Carolina.

Football wasnt a new idea, the track hosted the defending NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles in an exhibition game against the Washington Redskins in 1961.

How about making it a concert venue and host one of the biggest acts in American music? BMS did that as well with country music superstar Kenny Chesney returning home to East Tennessee and playing to over 40,000 fans.

OK, lets suspend the largest four-sided video screen in the world over the middle of the infield.

Thats been done a while with Collosus, a structure weighing nearly 700 tons and featuring four LED screens 68 feet wide by 30 feet tall.

More recently, theyve hosted Country Thunder with such acts as Morgan Wallen, Jason Aldean, Cody Johnson and Jelly Roll.

It was announced that superstars Tim McGraw and Pitbull would be playing before the Speedway Classic, while Jake Owen headlines a group outside the speedway in the Fan Zone.

What if the world was hit by a pandemic unlike anything seen in nearly a century? Say it shuts everything down, how would Bristol Motor Speedway respond? In a place where champions are crowned, the BMS staff stepped up to the task.

They were good community partners and provided quality entertainment to the fans.

The Food City presents Supermarket Heroes 500 was one of the first races back after NASCAR returned from the COVID-19 shutdown.

BMS then hosted the NASCAR All-Star Race in July 2020 as eventual series champion Chase Elliott sprinted to the victory.

It was attended by the largest crowd of any sporting event in America to that point with over 22,000 fans.

Another big crowd came to see the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race in September, a cut-off race in the NASCAR playoffs.

A year later, they took the concrete racing surface, covered it with clay and hosted the first NASCAR Cup Series race on dirt in over 50 years.

Before NASCAR came to town, they invited the grassroots racers to the track and see how that works.

A week before the Food City Dirt Race, nearly 1,400 entries came to experience the Bristol Dirt Nationals, It was a week-long, high-speed, mud-slinging celebration of dirt-track racing at the worlds greatest short track.

Even more than an entertainment venue, BMS has been a community leader.

They were designated as the Northeast Tennessee Disaster Relief Center for Hurricane Helene recovery efforts last October.

Our communities, friends and loved ones are hurting, and we stand ready to assist in any way that we possibly can, Caldwell said at the time.

We are proud to be a part of this relief and recovery effort and to utilize our facility as a resource and distribution center.

The Pinnacle Speedway in Lights, long heralded as the premier holiday lights display in the region, encompasses a four-mile route with over 2 million lights.

Its the primary fundraiser for the Bristol chapter of Speedway Childrens Charities, which raises money for agencies in the surrounding 18-county region.

What began as a simple signature fundraising event has evolved into a tradition-rich holiday treat for thousands of visitors each year, said Claudia Byrd, executive director of the Bristol chapter of Speedway Childrens Charities.

The Pinnacle Speedway in Lights provides an opportunity to get together with loved ones for an evening of amplifying the holiday spirit.

To date, Bristol Speedway Childrens Charities has distributed nearly $14 million to local agencies since its inception.

Bristol Motor Speedway has also served as host to the RAM clinic, providing thousands of uninsured people with free medical and dental services.

From January through early March, BMS served as a COVID-19 vaccination location.

We are proud to partner with the Sullivan County Health Department and open our facility to assist with the COVID-19 vaccination process, Caldwell said.

Anytime we are presented with an opportunity to utilize this great facility to support our community, especially an initiative of this magnitude, we are eager to help.

In addition, the facility has served as a place for community meetings, 5K runs, wedding receptions, corporate team-building experiences and hundreds of other motorsports competition.

With so many uses, it seems no idea is too far-fetched for Bristol Motor Speedway..

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