Around the horn and track: Chipper Jones, Chase Elliott envision baseball at Bristol

Bob Pockrass

FOX NASCAR Insider

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Chase Elliott is a big Atlanta Braves fan and gave Chipper Jones, one of the best players in Braves history, a ride in a car around Bristol Motor Speedway.

The car had a rev limiter, so Elliott couldn’t go as fast as he normally would around the 0.533-mile high-banked track (he can eclipse a lap at 125 mph in qualifying). It was still a cool experience for Jones.

NASCAR’s most popular driver and the Braves legend know each other through their fandom — the first NASCAR race Jones attended as a fan was as a boy at the July 1984 race at Daytona. Elliott, with his Georgia roots, has rooted for the team for as long as he can remember.

The superstars were brought together on Friday for what they hope is another cool moment as their worlds collide. Major League Baseball announced Friday that Atlanta and Cincinnati would play a regular-season game on Aug. 2, 2025, on a field constructed in the Bristol track’s infield. FOX will telecast the Saturday night prime-time game.

“Growing up 20 miles from Daytona and going to Daytona 500s and Firecracker 400s, watching [Elliott’s] dad dominate in the [No.] 9 car back in the day, you would have figured [this game] would have been on the infield at Talladega or Daytona — something big with a big, spacious infield,” Jone said as he sat next to Elliott.

“To have it packed in here like it is right now is kind of hard to see, but it will look completely different next year.”

Elliott believes it will be a cool moment. There is a possibility the race could eclipse the MLB record attendance of 115,300 for a game. Bristol would not release a potential capacity but should have at least 125,000 seats available.

“I’m a Braves fan like everybody else,” Elliott said. “Just to have a small part in this and be able to help promote it is a really cool honor for me for just growing up around watching them. … I guarantee whoever is here is going to have a really great experience.

“This is one of the best facilities we come to on a yearly basis. I think everybody in the industry would tell you the same thing. It’ll suit the needs for everybody involved, from the MLB to the Braves to the Reds very well. It’ll be a good event.”

The field will measure 330 feet down the lines, 375 and 384 to the power alleys and 400 to dead center. Construction will begin July 1 with a plan to get it done in 30 days. It will then take possibly 15 days to remove the field after the game. There will be some grading of the current infield surface, removal of some of the race track’s pit walls and removal of at least part of one of the buildings used for tires.

There were markings on the track’s “infield” of where the field will sit and the foul lines. The surface of the baseball field will not be on the racetrack itself.

“It looks pretty short — I’m not sure where they had the posts are if it’s going to change,” said Elliott as he tried to envision what was asphalt to having a turf field on it. “It’s going to look so much different. And I don’t think where they had the numbers up is exactly accurate.”

Jones said he wonders how the temporary field will play.

“It’s going to be really fun to watch the transformation take place,” Jones said. “One of the questions I had was, how’s the field going to play? This was before I knew it was going to be all turf and just clay around the bases.

“I thought they were going to be bringing grass in here, and you can’t just throw a baseball field together in a very short period of time. I was relieved to hear that it’s going to be turf. It’s going to be hot. Turf is quite a bit hotter than a natural surface.”

Jones said while it will be hot, it also will be a good way to break the monotony of the baseball summer.

“The routine for a major league baseball player gets kind of monotonous,” Jones said. “You do it all day, every day — very seldom do you have a day off. It’s good to have something to kind of break the monotony, and this is the perfect instance for that.

“It is extremely hot down here. The guys are dog-tired. And right around the end of July, beginning of August, most guys will tell you they hit a wall for about a week or 10 days where they’re just not quite themselves. And I really feel like a break from the everyday monotony to come up here and be a part of something as special as this, every guy on that roster is going to sign up for it, I can promise you.”

Many would probably sign up for a ride, too, with Elliott on the track. The car Elliott drove was not a NASCAR Cup Series car — it was a ride-along car used for driving experiences. It also had a rev limiter and tires not used in NASCAR races to comply with NASCAR’s strict rules on testing that only allow for testing at approved times.

“My pucker factor was a 9.5, and it was just me and him out there,” Jones said about taking a ride around the track. “Can you imagine with 38-39 other cars in such close proximity? That’s why all professional athletes stand in awe of professional athletes in other sports. I stand in amazement at what these guys do.

“This is about the third or fourth time that I’ve gotten to go on track and be in a car. It’s quite a rush.”

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.