A record crowd for a regular-season Major League Baseball game got to see all the pomp and pageantry of the MLB Speedway Classic before the rain washed out the game itself in the bottom of the first inning.

Fans returning Sunday only wanted to watch the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds play ball. Sunday was dry at Bristol Motor Speedway even with overcast skies.

This MLB Speedway Classic was first announced nearly a year ago as part of Commissioner Rob Manfred’s push to take MLB to places where baseball isn’t played every day live. MLB played a game at the “Field of Dreams” movie site in Iowa in both 2021 and 2022. Alabama and North Carolina, too.

MLB didn’t try to sell every ticket inside the speedway that drew 156,990 for the Battle of Bristol college football game in 2016. The track, with a racing capacity of 146,000, meant the final attendance number could reach 90,000 or more even with sections blocked off.

The previous paid attendance of 84,587 was set on September 12, 1954, when Cleveland Stadium hosted the New York Yankees.

Simply canceling this game wasn’t an option. The Reds are in the chase for a wild-card spot, and this is the last time these teams meet this season. Teams had police escorts to make sure they got back to Bristol on Sunday.

For fans, the commute back to Bristol Motor Speedway, billed as “The Last Great Colosseum” with its history as a half-mile bullring of a racetrack, was easier for some than others.

MLB will be announcing an attendance figure later Sunday. Officials already knew this event would draw a record crowd with 85,000 tickets sold as of Monday.

The big question Sunday was how many people would return for baseball itself after the big party that MLB and Bristol threw for fans Saturday. 

Fans had plenty of room to spread out, dance and enjoy the capping event of the MLB Speedway Classic.

Read more:

Reporting by The Associated Press.

Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!

Get more from the Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

Bruno Ribeiro took his third win of the 2025 Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) season in the opening round of the New Jersey Lottery SpeedTour weekend. In a wild race filled with obstacles and challenges for championship contenders, Ribeiro (No. 01 Alfa Cem / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) rose to the top to increase his lead in the standings.

With Ribeiro in second, Jett Bowling (No. 22 Bullhorn / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) led the field down the starting grid at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP). From the instant the lights went out, fourth-place starter Nicolas Ambiado (No. 55 Velox USA / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) looked to make forward progress. Reaching the rear wing of Ribeiro’s machine as they raced through Turn 5, the two made contact, which sent Ribeiro off track and allowed Ambiado to sneak by. From there, Ambiado turned his focus to Bowling, making the pass to take the lead with just over 18 minutes left on the clock.

After that, it turned into a race of attrition, as Bowling came down pit road mid-race due to a mechanical issue, losing two laps the field. Then, a late-race caution gave the field another chance at a restart, but with Titus Sherlock (No. 31 Rayne Nutrition / Ronald McDonald House Charities / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) suffering a gearbox issue on the start, competitors were sent scrambling down the front straight. As they took the checkered flag, Ambiado led the way, with Ribeiro in second and Jake Pollack (No. 5 The NRP Group / Foreview Ventures / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) in third.

Following the event, the stewards issued Ambiado a penalty for causing a collision. The drive-thru penalty was converted to a 30-second time penalty, which dropped him to fifth in the final results. Ribeiro inherited the race win, while Pollack was scored second and Sherlock was promoted to the third and final podium position.

• Shipman goes three in a row with Race 1 win at NJMP in F4 U.S.
• Irazu wins Ligier JFC Race 1 at NJMP

Notes of Interest:

Bruno Ribeiro claimed his third win of the 2025 season to extend his championship points lead.

Jake Pollack earned his first-career podium with a runner-up finish in Race 1 on Saturday afternoon.

With a third-place finish, Titus Sherlock earned his sixth podium of the season.

Finishing fourth, James Lawley tied his career-best finish in FR Americas competition. He also finished fourth at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park last season.

Anthony Autiello recorded a career-best finish with his eighth-place result in Round 12.

FR Americas Race 2 is set for 9:10am ET and will stream live on SpeedTour.TV,

SEE MORE:  Race 1 Official Results

> WATCH THE STREAM:  Stream Round 12 from NJMP

FR Americas is back on track tomorrow at 9:10 ET for Race 2. The event will stream live on SpeedTour.TV, 

Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice came to an abrupt halt after Kyle Busch suffered a terrifying wreck at Iowa Speedway.

While mired in a 79-race winless streak, Busch has not shied away from discussing Richard Childress Racing’s misfortunes during the 2025 campaign. Last week, he was handed yet another tough break upon getting caught up in a stackup during the Brickyard 400.

In the latest stroke of bad luck, Busch was running second-fastest in Group A when his right-rear tire stepped out on corner entry at Turn 1. When he attempted to correct the issue, his No. 8 Chevrolet overcorrected and went barreling into the outside wall at an alarming speed.

Flames and a plume of smoke quickly began bellowing out of the front of Busch’s car, which suffered severe damage from the hard collision, leading to the session being red flagged. Fortunately for the 40-year-old, he was able to exit the vehicle under his own power and head to the infield care center before being released with no serious injuries.

Assessing what went wrong, Busch told reporters: “[We were] just continuing to make changes to make improvements to the rear grip and getting the rear of the car more secure everywhere around the corner. Literally, anywhere that I would push a little bit harder [and] I would feel rear chatter. I felt really good about the changes that we made.

“Came out of Turn 4 really hot and heavy, and on it, and went off into Turn 1 with too much trust. Chattered the right rear, and then overcorrected and smacked the fence. Not really sure how to find more trust, or when you feel something good in one corner, it’s not there in the next.”

When asked if the track felt especially slick, Busch replied: “Each time I got out there and I got some laps under me, I felt stickier and stickier, and better and better. So I just tried to feel like the right rear was there off of 4 and trust it getting into 1, and it wasn’t there. So I don’t know, it’s a little bit treacherous but not as bad as when we were here testing.”

Heading into the Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol, Busch had finished P11 or better in three of his last four races. Yet following Saturday’s crash, he will now have to pilot a backup car from the back of the pack.

DON’T MISS:

“It’s tough for the guys,” Busch said. “Hate it for the guys. Everybody at RCR — especially the No. 8 crew here. I’m sure we’ll rely on some of the No. 3 guys [teammate Austin Dillon] to get the backup car prepared overnight.

“Obviously, we had decent speed. Just trying to work on up to it and consistently just get better and better with laps. That’ll be about the same thing we got to do tomorrow. I was probably built up to about 75%, 80% trust, and now I’m back to zero.”

In May 2024, Corey Day drew high praise from Kyle Larson for his impressive performances in the High Limit Racing Series and Late Model Stock Car Racing, with Larson noting, “I feel like he’s kind of a lot like me.”

Soon after, the young driver found himself under the microscope in ARCA for his aggressive style, yet his name has remained a steady topic in NASCAR circles as he juggles in the Truck, Xfinity, and ARCA Menards Series this season. Larson recently reaffirmed his confidence in Day after a string of promising runs.

Driving for Hendrick Motorsports in the Xfinity Series, Day has made five starts this year so far, finishing inside the top-20 twice, at Texas and Nashville. However, his results in the Truck Series have been more eye-catching. Behind the wheel of Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado RST, he has logged seven starts so far in 2025, earning two top-five and two additional top-15 finishes.

In his last two Truck outings at Nashville and Indianapolis Raceway Park, Day finished fifth and second, respectively. Reflecting on that progression ahead of the Iowa race, Larson said, “It was good to see him have a strong run there. It was a track that I thought may, you know, suit his style, being able to move around and search for grip and things.”

“He was probably one of the first, if not the first, running below the apron that night and found some speed that way. So, it just lends itself to a dirt guy’s background, probably. But yeah, he’s been slowly getting better here lately in the stock car stuff, and I’m sure gaining confidence. So yeah, I’m hopeful and excited to see how he keeps going in the #17 car,” he added.

Larson emphasized that the Hendrick Motorsports team is fully behind Day, but also acknowledged the vertical learning curve for young drivers like him in today’s NASCAR environment, where limited practice and a lack of real-world testing leave them heavily reliant on simulators. The No. 5 HMS driver said he’s encouraged to see Day starting to figure it out.

Coming from a dirt and High Limit Racing background, Day faces the natural adjustment of learning NASCAR tracks, adapting to heavier cars, and enduring longer race distances. His run at Indianapolis highlighted that learning curve and his ability to rise to the occasion.

At Indy last week, with qualifying washed out by lightning delays, Day started 16th based on NASCAR’s grid metrics. He finished the 200-lap race in second, 1.864 seconds behind Layne Riggs.

Day was the biggest mover of the race, gaining 14 positions from start to finish. He advanced to eighth by the end of Stage 1, slipped to 13th at the close of Stage 2, and then stormed through the final 80-lap green-flag run to claim the runner-up spot, showing the adaptability that has quickly made him a name to watch.

Chase Briscoe’s done it again.

One week after claiming the pole for the Brickyard 400, Briscoe laid down a quick lap of 136.933mph (23.093s) to take the top spot again for the Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway.

The result is Briscoe’s sixth pole of the 2025 season, triple the two he had in four seasons before arriving at Joe Gibbs Racing. He’ll hope continuing that trend won’t lead to a repeat of his race results on Sunday. Briscoe has yet to take a win from any of his pole runs this season.

“It’s definitely been great on Saturdays for our Bass Pro Shops Toyota,” Briscoe said. “I would love to convert that to Sundays. We’ve been fast on Sundays, too – just haven’t been able to come out on top.”

After a Toyota-led practice, qualifying saw contenders from all three manufacturers. William Byron was second for Chevrolet with a speed of 136.435mph. His Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson followed in third at 136.429mph.

Ford drivers took the next three spots, led by Austin Cindric (136.358mph). Brad Keselowski (136.252mph) completed the top five, with inaugural race winner Ryan Blaney (136.063mph) coming home sixth.

From there, it was all Chevrolet. Carson Hocever (136.016mph), Chase Elliott (135.981mph), AJ Allmendinger (135.928mph) and Justin Haley (135.788mph) wrapped up the top 10. Regular season championship contender Denny Hamlin slotted in 11th.

It was a tight session, with 0.629s separating 35 of the 37 potential qualifiers. Garage 66’s Joey Gase was 2.169s off in 36th. Kyle Busch failed to complete a lap after crashing hard during the preceding practice session. His Richard Childress Racing team will roll out a backup car for Sunday’s race.

With the field so close together, small mistakes carried big consequences. Playoff bubble driver Chris Buescher was a distant 27th at session’s end. Thankfully for him, the driver he’s racing for the final playoff spot – RFK Racing teammate Ryan Preece – was even worse in 33rd.

The driver Buescher is chasing should another winner move the cutline up, Alex Bowman, qualified 16th.

No accidents during the session, though Keselowski lost the nose of his No. 6 and had to chase his car up the track during his run, but managed to make the save.

The Iowa Corn 350 will go live Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA. It’s the first race of NBC Sports’ 2025 Cup slate.

RESULTS

NEWTON, Iowa. – Three Hendrick Motorsports drivers are 1-2-3 in the NASCAR Cup Series standings with four races left in the regular season—the closest competition for the 15-Playoff-point bonus that goes to the regular-season winner since the current system was installed in 2017.

Chase Elliott has a four-point lead over teammate William Byron in second, with Kyle Larson 15 points back in third.

Byron finished second in last year’s Iowa race, and Elliott ran third, but Larson, despite his 34th-place finish, arguably had the fastest car in the field.

Larson won the pole for the inaugural Cup race at the 0.875-mile track and scored a stage win before contact from Daniel Suarez’s Chevrolet spun Larson’s No. 5 Camaro into the outside wall and ruined his race.

“I feel like our team was really, really strong to start the year (this season),” Larson said. “We had those five or six weeks where we had fallen off a bit, but these last two have gone well. We were competitive here at Iowa last year…”

In all probability, the teammates will battle for the regular-season title until the final regular-season race at Daytona. If there’s a spoiler, it’s likely to be Denny Hamlin, who trails Elliott by 20 points despite missing a race for the birth of his son.

“It’s great to see Hendrick Motorsports atop the standings right now—at least three of us are—with just a few races left till the end of the regular season,” Larson said. “That’s something to be proud of, but there’s still a lot of racing left, and the Playoffs can be crazy.”

Source: Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service