Talk about your crossover event of the season. When bigtime college football meets the NASCAR circuit at the “Battle at Bristol,” you have the makings of one of the biggest tailgating fests in sports. That’s what we’ve got Saturday night in Bristol, Tenn. when Virginia Tech and Tennessee will play in the infield of a superspeedway.
These two programs have been talking about playing each other in Bristol, Tenn. – about halfway between the two schools – for 20 years and it’s finally on. More than 150,000 fans are expected which will shatter the NCAA record of 115,109 who were in the “Big House” in 2013 when Michigan hosted Notre Dame.
The parking lots are going to be hopping with two fanbases already known for their tailgating prowess. (Former NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace talks about why he thinks Bristol has the best tailgating in NASCAR in the latest issue of Inside Tailgating magazine.)
Here’s a Yahoo Sports story about how plans for the game unfolded. And check out this time-lapse video for how a Sprint Cup track is converted for a little gridiron action.
