BRISTOL, Tenn. — The instant the Atlanta Braves and the 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 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 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 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 things that nobody would even think about,” Swift said.

Indianapolis, Indiana (Tuesday August 5^th, 2025) – Rising Star Racing and Priority are proud to announce they will partner with American INDY NXT by Firestone racing talent Michael d’Orlando for the three remaining INDY NXT by Firestone races of the 2025 season. As part of the agreement,  d’Orlando’s car will feature a livery promoting Rising Star Racing, Priority Commerce Technologies, Priority Plastiq, and Priority Sports.       .

Rising Star Racing and Priority are committed to supporting home-grown racing stars of the future. As such, this partnership provides significant backing to the exceptionally talented INDY NXT by Firestone driver to return to the grid at the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland on August 8-10. As part of his comeback, d’Orlando will also compete at the season’s final two races in Milwaukee and Nashville.

New Yorker d’Orlando – who logged seven 2024 INDY NXT races in impressive fashion before being sidelined by a lack of funding – will be racing in Portland with the Andretti Cape INDY NXT team – formed via a technical partnership between the multi-time INDY NXT by Firestone championship team Andretti Global and Cape Motorsports.

The 12-turn, 1.964-mile-long Portland International Raceway always provides for close racing, particularly in the always exciting and congested Turn 1. Indeed, d’Orlando will have his driving skills tested to the limit on his return at this historic urban track which contains several spots for passing opportunities, including a quick chicane at the end of the frontstretch, a hard-braking right-hander at Turn 7 leading onto the sweeping backstretch, and a three-turn complex leading back onto the frontstretch.

The race and preliminary sessions will be broadcast live on FS1.

Michael d’Orlando was thrilled to confirm his return to the INDY NXT grid, commenting: ”We have been working hard all year to get back in the seat and I am very excited to be back with Andretti Cape Indy NXT for the last three races of season.  I am so thankful for everyone at RSR, Priority, Focused Project Management and Andretti Cape for pulling this together and for the opportunity to be back in Indy NXT.”

“RSR is very excited to support Michael for the remainder of the 2025 season,” said RSR CEO Art Wilmes. “RSR continues to support Michael and his brother Nick.”

“We’re renewing our relationship to support Michael on the perfect platform to spotlight Priority Sports, our new vertical that simplifies payments and helps teams boost revenue” said Priority CEO Tom Priore

About Rising Star Racing

Founded in 2012, by Art Wilmes, Rising Star Racing (RSR) is a privately owned and operated motorsport group. RSR seeks to ensure that the most talented American driver(s) reach the highest ladder of open-wheel racing in the United States — the NTT IndyCar Series.

About Priority

Priority is the payments and banking solution that enables businesses to collect, store, lend and send funds through a unified commerce engine. Our platform combines payables, merchant services, and banking and treasury solutions so leaders can streamline financial operations efficiently — and our innovative industry experts help businesses navigate and build momentum on the path to growth. With the Priority Commerce Engine, leaders can accelerate cash flow, optimize working capital, reduce unnecessary costs, and unlock new revenue opportunities. To learn more about Priority and its publicly traded parent, Priority Technology Holdings, Inc., visit prioritycommerce.com.

About Michael D’Orlando:

Michael d’Orlando is currently competing in the 2025 INDY NXT by Firestone series on a race-by-race basis under the direction of Andretti Cape INDY NXT.

Michael also competed with the Cape Motorsports team for each of the 2020 – 2022 Cooper Tires USF 2000 Championship series, earning the 2022 Cooper Tires USF2000 Champion title and the 2021 Vice-Champion title. Michael’s motorsports career began in go-karting at Oakland Valley Race Park in Cuddebackville, NY at the age of six. Before transitioning to race cars in 2018, his karting success included multiple regional, national, and international championship titles, culminating at the European world championship level as a factory team driver for the world- renowned Birel ART racing team based in Italy.

Source: Rising Star Racing | Michael D’Orlando

Bubba Wallace’s wife, Amanda, gave him a NASCAR playoff reality check after his race incident with Alex Bowman on the streets of Chicago, before he went on to win the Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis. Wallace of 23XI Racing and Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports were involved in a late collision in the closing laps of the race won by Shane van Gisbergen, with the Cup Series rivals vying for a spot in the In‑Season Challenge.

Bowman spun Wallace, who later retaliated, but the No. 23 car suffered a broken toe link and fell out of contention, finishing 28th. Meanwhile, Bowman secured 8th and advanced in the Challenge. After the race, the pair had a respectful confrontation to discuss the on-track happenings, and tensions eased.

At that point in the NASCAR Cup Series season, Wallace suffered a blow to his pursuit of the $1 million In-Season Challenge prize. He lost out on valuable championship points to rival Bowman in the race for the NASCAR playoffs. Both drivers were winless, resulting in Wallace’s wife letting her feelings be known about the incident, which heaped further stress on her husband. It comes after a NASCAR star’s wife revealed she was hit hard by a disturbing health problem that “makes no sense”. 

Amanda, the mother to Wallace’s son, Becks, branded her husband a “dumb—” in a furious dressing down in the hotel after Chicago. Speaking on the “Stacking Pennies” podcast to Corey LaJoie, Wallace said: “I made myself look like a dumb— at Chicago, myself with Bowman, right? And I knew it. I got back to the hotel room. We were just about to head back to the plane… She was pretty pissed off at me, and you could see it.”

“She was like, ‘It was really f—— dumb.’ And I was like, ‘I needed that,'” the Alabama-born driver added. “After Chicago, she says, ‘You know, you just gave 20 something points, now you’re going to be stressed for the next seven weeks because you’re back in the same spot, you just put yourself in the same spot that you desperately didn’t want to be in.'”

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“You know, she shot it to me straight, so, yeah, she’s there with me through it all – the good and the bad,” Wallace continued.

Amanda’s blunt spurred Wallace to correct the course of his season and book his playoff spot with a win in the Brickyard 400 in Indy a few weeks later.

Wallace survived a rain delay and double overtime to take the chequered flag for his first win in the Cup Series since Kansas in the 2022 season.

DON’T MISS

“You see like the playoff picture and there’s no more +3 or +4 to the No. 23, it’s times 1 with the win sticker and we’re P9 in points and I was like, ‘That’s an awesome sight.’ And she looks at me and just smiles,” Wallace said.

The family of three posed for photos at the track following Wallace’s triumph. 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin, one of Wallace’s on-track rivals at Joe Gibbs Racing, also joined the celebrations.

CLUB MINUTES:

JJ AT THE GLEN: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB co-owner and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson has 18 Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. He earned a best finish of third twice in his career at The Glen – August 2007 and August 2012. In total, Johnson earned four top-fives, eight top-10s, and led 18 laps on the road course in New York. He has an additional four starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Watkins Glen where he earned a best finish of second in his final start there in August 2011. Johnson started sixth and finished just .974 of a second behind race winner Kurt Busch.

KENSETH GLEN STATS: LEGACY MC competition advisor Matt Kenseth has a total of 19 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen. In his career, he earned two top-fives, eight top-10s, and led three laps at The Glen. His best finish of second came in August 2017 when he started 15th. He ended up finishing .414 of a second behind race winner Martin Truex Jr. Kenseth has an additional six NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at The Glen. He earned two top-fives and three top-10s with a best finish of third in August 2008 after starting 16th.

THE KING AT THE GLEN: Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion and LEGACY MC ambassador Richard Petty owns eight Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen. He earned a best finish of ninth in August 1991 at the track after starting 31st for the 90-lap race.

NEVER SETTLE: Join ESPN’s Marty Smith and LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s co-owner Jimmie Johnson for their weekly podcast, “Never Settle”. The podcast airs live on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90 at 2 p.m. ET every Wednesday and can be downloaded wherever fans source their podcasts. This week’s episode was recorded at the Wyndham Championship and includes guests Brandt Snedeker, Jackson Koivun, and Mike Brown.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
NO. 42 MOBIL 1 TOYOTA CAMRY XSE

JHN AT WATKINS GLEN: John Hunter Nemechek had his first NASCAR Cup Series start at Watkins Glen last August where he finished 21st after starting 35th. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, he has two career starts at the road course, with his best finish of sixth coming in the August 2023 race. Nemechek also has one start at The Glen in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series where he started sixth and finished second under caution.

T-MACK GLEN STATS: Sunday’s race will be crew chief Travis Mack’s fourth NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen. His first outing came with Daniel Suarez in 2021, and the duo competed there together for three years in a row, earning a highest finish of fifth in August 2022. Last year at The Glen, he earned the pole and a second-place finish with Shane Van Gisbergen. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Mack has two starts at Watkins Glen with Michael Annett, earning a 17th-place finish in 2018 and an eighth-place finish in 2019.

FINGER LAKES DISTILLING: John Hunter Nemechek will take part in a special single barrel cask release at Finger Lakes Distilling Company (FLD) – #3142 – to commemorate his car number – 42 – in advance of this weekend’s Go Bowling at the Glen NASCAR race. Visitors to FLD can buy the special bottle, priced at a reduced cost of $42 at the event.

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
“I’m looking forward to going back to Watkins Glen. It’s probably one of my favorite road courses that we go to on the NASCAR schedule. It should be a good weekend for us. I feel like we’ve been able to find speed in our road course cars here from LEGACY MOTOR CLUB over the last few months. I’m looking forward to hopefully a really solid weekend and trying to be there at the end for a win.”

TRAVIS MACK QUOTE:
“We’ve been putting a lot of work into our road course package, so we’re confident heading into Watkins Glen. Tire wear might be more of a factor with the softer compound and warmer temperatures, but we’ve seen lots of progress in our road course cars this season, so I’m looking forward to this weekend.”

ERIK JONES
NO. 43 FAMILY DOLLAR TOYOTA CAMRY XSE

JONES GLEN STATS: Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen will mark Erik Jones’ eighth NASCAR Cup Series start at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. In his prior seven starts at the track, Jones earned two top-fives and four top-10s. His best finish came in August 2019 when Jones started 14th and earned a solid fourth-place result. Jones has an additional four starts outside of the Cup Series at The Glen – three in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and one in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. In his three Xfinity Series starts, Jones earned a best finish of eighth in August 2017 after starting sixth. In his only NASCAR K&N Pro Series East start at the track, Jones started 25th and finished 19th after leading seven laps in the August 2018 race.

BESHORE AT THE GLEN: Crew chief Ben Beshore owns three NASCAR Cup Series starts on top of the box at Watkins Glen. His best result came in his first start there in August 2021 with Kyle Busch who started 20th and finished fourth. In last year’s August race, Beshore was the crew chief for John Hunter Nemechek. The team started 35th before driving their way up to a 21st-place finish. He has an additional two starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at The Glen. In August 2019, he started on the pole with Kyle Busch before a suspension issue took them out of contention for the win on Lap 35. Then in August 2023, Beshore returned with Nemechek to earn a sixth-place finish.

EJ GOES LATE MODEL RACING: Prior to heading to New York for this Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen, Jones rolled into Kaukauna, Wisconsin on Tuesday, August 5 for the 2025 ASA Midwest Tour late model race at Wisconsin International Raceway, LLC. He joined fellow Michigan-native and NASCAR Cup Series driver Carson Hocevar in the lineup for Tuesday night’s main event. Jones has won one of his five previous Midwest Tour starts in 2014 at the Milwaukee Mile.

THE OSCAR PLUSH: Jones announced the launch of his latest project two weekends ago at Indianapolis Motor Speedway – the Oscar Jones collectible plush. Modeled after his eight-year-old German Shepherd, the Oscar plush started to be sold at Indianapolis after a collaboration with Ultimate Canine, LLC. A portion of the sale of the plush will go back to the Erik Jones Foundation to support the funding of grants for its animal welfare pillar of giving. Since its launch in 2021, the Erik Jones Foundation has gifted more than $40,000 in grants to organizations promoting animal welfare and supporting the training of working animals. Fans can still purchase their own Oscar plush at ErikJonesRacing.com or at the NASCAR Classics trackside merchandise hauler at the racetrack.

ERIK JONES QUOTE
“Watkins Glen is always kind of a wild card. I’ve run well there in the Cup Series in the past, but we haven’t quite been able to get those top-10 finishes the past two years. With the speed we’ve had on road courses this summer though, I think you could see us up there competing for a strong finish this weekend. We were fast in Mexico and Chicago, and then dropped off a little at Sonoma. We’ve been working hard on our road course program, so I’m excited to see what the teams can bring to the track this weekend.”

BEN BESHORE QUOTE
“I feel like as a team we’ve been 50/50 on road courses this year. Mexico and Chicago performance-wise went okay. We had some issues during the races, but we had some speed. Then we really struggled at COTA and Sonoma. I think Watkins Glen is a little bit different style of road course from the others though. It’s a more high-speed road course over the very technical ones like Sonoma or Chicago. There’s a little bit more emphasis on aerodynamics rather than straight up forward drive. It’s a little bit different from that standpoint. Strategy-wise – you can do it a couple different ways at Watkins Glen. I think you’ll see most guys try to short pit both stages and then pit sometime early in the fuel window that final stage. You may even have some guys who try to do it on a two-stop strategy where you pit at the end of Stage 1 and then run it out to your fuel window at Lap 55 or so. Tires do fall of a little bit more than they have in the past there due to the softer tire. It’s kind of a coin flip on what’s going to be the best strategy there. It just kind of depends on how the cautions fall. Sometimes I wish we had a crystal ball so we could see how it would play out, but you have to anticipate what to do in every situation. It’ll also be key to see how the tires fall off during practice since it’ll be on the warmer side this weekend. Tires might be a bigger deal than they have been in the past.”

CLUB APPEARANCES:

Nemechek will be at the NASCAR Classics trackside merchandise rig to sign for fans at 10:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, Aug. 9.
TUNE IN:

Fans can tune in to watch the Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International on Sunday, August 10 at 2 p.m. ET on USA, MAX, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).

LMC PR

A NASCAR insider has the latest on Dodge making its return to NASCAR Cup Series. Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic shared details on which teams would sign with the car manufacturer for the Cup Series once the manufacturer makes that jump.

“Dodge has had conversations with several parties representing teams, both existing and prospective, including at least one current Cup organization,” Bianchi wrote. “The consensus within the garage is that Dodge would be best served by aligning with an already operational team that knows the ins and outs of NASCAR, helping to mitigate the typical issues that inevitably arise when a new manufacturer comes in. Expect substantial movement on this soon.”

On June 8, NASCAR announced that Ram (previously part of Dodge) would return to NASCAR for the 2026 Truck Series season. At the time, John Probst, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, said the process of Ram’s return gained momentum at the end of the third quarter of the 2024 fiscal year.

More on Dodge’s return to NASCAR

“I know that this is something that we have been talking about for a long time, and it’s something that we don’t get to do very often,” Probst said in a press release. “I think the last time we did this was over 20 years ago when Toyota entered our sport, so this is something that is a big moment for our entire sport and our existing competitors, potential new competitors, our OEMs.”

Ram spun off as a separate brand of Dodge in 2010. The last time Dodge competed in the NASCAR Cup Series was in 2012, when Brad Keselowski won the title for Team Penske in a Dodge Charger. Dodge Ram celebrated three manufacturer titles in the Truck Series (2001, 2003-2004) during its first run, which ended in 2013.

In June, Kevin Harvick shared his thoughts on Dodge returning to NASCAR. “It’s really neat to see RAM come back to the Truck Series,” Harvick stated, via Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour. “They were always such a big part of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and everything that happens and has happened with it through the years. So they just, I mean — it’s just NASCAR. They’re just a NASCAR brand. I don’t know why they ever left. 13 years ago. I’m happy that they’re back.