The "reality of how monumental of an undertaking" the Virginia Tech-Tennessee football game at Bristol Motor Speedway is going to be is "constantly" on the mind of track GM Jerry Caldwell, according to Andy Bitter of the ROANOKE TIMES. Caldwell said of the Battle at Bristol game, "It’s all those emotions, truthfully, at times, just an excitement of seeing this thing that’s been talked about for so long and our team worked so hard on, a lot of hours right now from the team." Bitter noted in the 19 days before the game, BMS "will add more than 5,000 temporary seats, gut the buildings at the end of the infield to convert them into locker rooms, remove parts of the catch fence, construct goal posts, clocks and cameras and assemble a stage" for the pregame concert featuring Kenny Chesney. However, the biggest undertaking "will be the construction of the field itself, starting with 450 truckloads of rock and sand for the field base, which will rise more than 3 feet above the ground." AstroTurf "will have 15 employees on-site for eight days setting up the playing surface, which is scheduled to be completed by Aug. 28, with smaller field components put in place in the week after that." The stadium’s new scoreboard -- Colossus, a center-hung, four-sided video screen -- "is already in place." VT AD Whit Babcock said of the track, "It’s their first football game, certainly. But they have good people." The 150,000-seat grandstand, which includes the 5,000 temporary seats, "is sold out, with some seats in the suites still available." UT AD Dave Hart jokingly said, "I suspect when the game ends, there’ll be 300,000 people who claim they were here" (ROANOKE TIMES, 8/11).
