Back in the late summer of 1961, the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins met in an NFL exhibition game in the infield of the new Bristol Raceway. Eagles players reviewed it as the worst field they ever played on.
Now rumors are running rampant that the Hokies of Virginia Tech will meet the Vols of the University of Tennessee in a college match up. History does tend to repeat itself.
Virginia Tech, Tennessee to play at Bristol Motor Speedway
(Photo: Randy Sartin, USA TODAY Sports)
An event that has been a fantasy of football fans in southwest Virginia and east Tennessee for decades appears close to becoming reality.
A person with knowledge of the plans tells The Associated Press that Tennessee and Virginia Tech will play a football game at Bristol Motor Speedway in September 2016.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement is still in the works.
FOOTBALL AND FOOTPEDALS: How a game at Bristol might look
The speedway, which seats 150,000, is located 125 highway miles southwest of Blacksburg, Va., and 111 highway miles northeast of Knoxville. The city housing the facility is split by the Tennessee-Virginia state line.
The Bristol Motor Speedway Commission announced plans for a news conference Monday for what it called a major announcement, but gave no details.
"I can just tell you I'm going to be in Bristol on Monday from about 11 to 1," Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver said in a telephone interview Wednesday night. He said football coach Frank Beamer would be there as well.
"I think it has the chance to be a really nice event," Weaver said, adding that the idea has been in the works for "three or four months."
The attendance record for college football is 115,109, set last month at Michigan Stadium for the Michigan-Notre Dame game.
There once had been talk that Bristol could be domed for college football, but there are no indications that is happening in this case.
A Tennessee spokesman says the school could not comment. Virginia Tech did not respond to an email from USA TODAY Sports.
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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM