As a racing series, NASCAR pays a visit to several different types of race tracks. This ranges from oval superspeedways to intermediate tracks to short tracks, to road courses, and finally a street course. Each type of track has its fans and detractors, but it seems that short tracks that are less than 1 mile in length—Martinsville Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, and Richmond Raceway get a fair amount of flack.

Fans have been criticizing the short track races for slow bumper cars, especially the action on the Next Gen. Currently, there are five short tracks on the calendar and a total of eight rounds. Some believe that this is already too many, especially considering that the short-track package is not very ideal. In the past, short-track racing used to be a great spectacle, and fans used to enjoy watching them. We can actually count on one hand the number of exciting short-track races with the Gen 7 car and still have fingers left over.

Recently, it transpired that the Bristol Motor Speedway is embarking on an ambitious project. According to The Athletic reporters Jordan Bianchi and Evan Drellich, the Bristol Motor Speedway is expected to host a regular-season MLB game in 2025.

The baseball teams that have the honor of visiting this iconic race track are the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds. This particular game should help boost NASCAR”s popularity, as is the plan.

The last time it hosted a cross-sports event?

The 150,000-seat facility is actually no stranger to playing host to non-NASCAR events. Back in 2016, the Bristol Motor Speedway hosted a college football game between Tennessee and Virginia Tech. To accommodate the game, the BMS authorities even built a football field in the infield.

The MLB game could actually be a big win for NASCAR because it could shatter the MLB attendance record. And when asked about his views on Bristol being on the calendar, the Atlanta Braves baseman said, “It’ll be like SEC football.” Austin Riley is a Mississippi native who also shared that his best friend’s grandfather was a dirt track racer as well, and he has watched races before. “You know what’s crazy? I’ve never been to a NASCAR race,” Riley admitted. “Never been to Talladega, as close as I am.”

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith will announce in Tennessee on Friday. Although MLB seems well-versed with NASCAR, what about our drivers and fans?

This Bristol news did pique the interest of many fans

Of course, many NASCAR fans were excited by this unusual crossover and wanted to see what would come of it. Some harked back to when Bristol hosted the college football and how that played out. One fan observed, “This will be interesting. Not near the draw from the CFB game, but I’ll be interested in attending.”

Others did not see the move coming at all but were curious to see if the track authorities could pull it off. They said, “Not something I had on the bingo card. But I’m intrigued to see how they plan on pulling that off. I’d be interested in going to compare it to the Tennessee-Virginia Tech game I went to back in 2016.”

Interestingly, one NASCAR fan actually got the news early. However, the rumor mill had been very tight-lipped on the matter, so it would have likely been dismissed as mere rumor-mongering. They revealed, “I was told by a friend this was happening a few months back but never heard anything official until now. Excited to see what the field will look like.”

Some even debated the logistics of the matter, saying, “They’re probably the two closest MLB teams to the stadium, so it makes sense from that perspective but seems weird to do it where they’re both 5 hours away. Although I guess they’ve done the Field of Dreams games where neither team is super close either.”

One thing is for certain: 2025 will be a massive year, and NASCAR will want to boost ticket sales and attendance.