Race on for Bristol Motor Speedway to prepare for NASCAR

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — The instant the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Braves cleared the baseball diamond inside the infield at Bristol Motor Speedway, a new clock started. "The Last Great Colosseum" has to switch from hosting the MLB Speedway Classic and be ready for NASCAR's return to the historic racetrack hosting a playoff chase race Sept. 13. "As soon as the last pitch is thrown, the last hit's hit, teams do their thing, postgame's taken care of, pads will start coming off the wall, and they'll work through the night to basically start disassembling so we can reassemble for the NASCAR race," said Steve Swift, Speedway Motorsports' senior vice president of operations. Major League Baseball used BaAM to create everything from clubhouses for the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds complete with showers, strength and conditioning rooms, coach and trainers' offices and batting cages. Grandstands down both base lines with broadcast booths. Pit walls taken down to keep the Reds and Braves from crashing into them have to be rebuilt. Swift said pouring concrete walls does take time and then more time to cure properly. Additives can help concrete cure faster, but that's just one of the reconstruction issues causing obstacles. Swift said Bristol has had great partners planning for all the details of making this happen. Now it's time for Bristol Motor Speedway to go from hosting the first MLB regular-season game in the state of Tennessee and setting a record with a paid attendance of 91,032 back to its racing roots. "It is difficult, but it's things that we like," Swift said. "It gives us a challenge and we like challenges." The transformation to a baseball diamond in the infield required 17,500 tons of gravel to level the infield, then 340 tons of Pennsylvania clay for the playing surface. Braves first baseman Matt Olson said Saturday that he couldn't believe Bristol was transformed all for one game. Well, everything that can be recycled will be used somewhere after the baseball diamond is removed. Some of the gravel will be used in Bristol Motor Speedway's parking lots. Swift said they have found groups to help use some of the materials to help people still recovering from the damages left by Hurricane Helene. That includes 2x4s and plywood used for the grandstands. "A lot of stuff is going to go to good use as far as the rebuild portion," Swift said. "We just need to get it out of the way so we can put back asphalt and concrete." This new renovation schedule has a couple of days built in for protection. The target date for being finished is Sept. 7. "There may still be some paint drying whenever they roll in with the Goodyear haulers, but we'll definitely shoot for that (Sept. 7) day," Swift said. "And at the latest, we're looking at Tuesday." Bristol hosted a college football game in 2016 that drew 156,990. Now the NHL might be in Bristol's future after Sportico reported Friday that league officials would be checking out how the racetrack handled Major League Baseball. When asked about possibly hosting an outdoor hockey game, Swift only said a hockey rink would be similar to a football field and that Speedway Motorsports has big dreams for what is possible at places like Bristol. "We've shown with football and now baseball being here, that things can take place and we can do the the things that nobody would even think about," Swift said. ___ AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing