Virginia Tech, Tennessee to play football game at Bristol NASCAR track

A record amount of fans are expected to see the Hokies and Vols play in 2016.

By Pete Volk@Pete_Volk Oct 9, 2013, 5:47pm EDT

The Virginia Tech Hokies and Tennessee Volunteers will play a game of college football at the Bristol Motor Speedway in 2016, Bruce Feldman and others are reporting. (Edit: This game will be officially announced on Monday.)

The game has been in the works for approximately a decade, and it's easy to see why. The race track is about a two-hour drive from each campus -- it is on the Tennessee/Virginia state line, and should be an exciting neutral-site atmosphere.

Bristol may not be the only race track to try and branch out to other sports -- the Daytona 500 track wants Florida and Florida State games at its venue, along with perhaps the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Other recent college football games have been played in baseball stadiums, including the annual Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium, and college basketball games have tried out aircraft carriers.

As Feldman pointed out, a record-setting number of fans will be able to fill these massive venues, and it will likely be one of the loudest college football games in years -- especially with Bristol's location relative to the two states.

Update: You can fit Tennessee's stadium, the SEC's biggest, inside Bristol.

Neyland Stadium compared to Bristol Motor Speedway. pic.twitter.com/i7HfZGKPZs
— Neyland Stadium (@Neyland_Stadium) October 10, 2013

And here's Virginia Tech's:

For perspective, here's a (bad) photoshop of what Lane Stadium looks like inside Bristol at 100 ft. on @bing. #Hokies pic.twitter.com/pNzqCUizhL
— Sammy Eanes (@sammyeanes) October 10, 2013