Salem’s Murray Cook has done it again!! Cook, the foremost authority in the world in constructing baseball fields and stadiums, has turned the Bristol Motor Speedway into a big league quality baseball diamond.
The converted speedway will be the site of a game this Saturday between the host Cincinnati Reds and the Atlanta Braves. The first venture of its kind, the ticket sales have already set a new record for attendance at a regular season Major League Baseball game. Through Monday sales have passed the previous attendance record of 84,587, set at old Cleveland Municipal Stadium over 70 years ago, on September 12, 1954.
A 2025 inductee into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, as well as a member of the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame, Cook rose from clubhouse boy at Salem Municipal Field to president of Brightview Sports Turf Division and field consultant for Major League Baseball. His many ventures include construction of Olympic ballparks around the world, building a real life “Field of Dreams,” and countless other projects, turning things like Army bases, soccer stadiums and cricket fields into diamonds of MLB caliber. He’s the best there’s ever been, hands down.
“We’ve transformed an old Army base golf course in Ft Bragg, the Sydney Cricket grounds in Australia, a cornfield in Iowa, an Olympic stadium soccer field in the UK and now a speedway,” said Cook. “All were fun and unique in their own way.”
When it was announced that a baseball game was going to be played inside the speedway, which has a capacity of 146,000 for a NASCAR race, some said it couldn’t be done.
“Here in Bristol, converting a high-banked oval racetrack into a world-class baseball field isn’t something you do every day, but it’s exactly the kind of challenge our team loves,” said Cook, who has Salem Red Sox groundskeeper Will Cole helping for the game. “This project pushed us to get a little creative, while maintaining Bristol Motor Speedway’s iconic charm.”
Obviously, some changes had to be made, all the while being sure not to damage the racing surface. The speedway is set to host the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on September 13, a little over a month after the ballgame.
“In order to meet MLB field dimensions, the Bristol Motor Speedway management had to temporarily remove pit walls, select signage and lights, the Sunoco fuel tanks and even half of the Goodyear building,” said Cook. “This installation shares similarities with the London Series field build at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, a project completed in just 18 days. However, the Bristol transformation, being a larger scale build, is taking close to 30 days to complete the changeover.”
The project was right on schedule heading into this week. Bristol Motor Speedway track president and general manager Jerry Caldwell says there is a ton of momentum building for this game. The extended community and region are buzzing, as is the national sports landscape. He says it will be one of those events that is more than just a game. It’s a major happening.
“On game day we’re going to encourage people to get here early,” Caldwell said. “Things are going to start out at the Fan Zone at noon with lots and lots of things for people to do, incorporating the sport of NASCAR and the history of Major League Baseball. It’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s going to be one of those days that you’ll want to be here with your family to experience and be able to talk about for the rest of your life.”
