Here’s your friendly reminder that a college football game will played within the confines of Bristol Motor Speedway in 2016.
The game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Virginia Tech Hokies on Sept. 10 now has a title sponsor. The game will now be called the The Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol.
Pilot Flying J, the largest operator of travel centers in North America, is based in Knoxville and has connections to NASCAR. The company is a primary sponsor of of the No. 46 of Michael Annett in the Sprint Cup Series.
The company was also owned by Jim Haslam, who played on Tennessee’s 1951 National Championship team and the first Pilot filling station opened in 1958 in Gate City, Virginia, 30 miles from Bristol Motor Speedway.
“All eyes in the sports world will be on the Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol next September and we’re thrilled to have a national sponsor by our side who embodies the welcoming spirit of our Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountain region,” said BMS executive vice president and general manager Jerry Caldwell in a press release. “We’ll have Vol and Hokie nation fans from nearly every state at the game, so having a partner who shares our focus on making guests feel at home is important to us.”
The game will be played a month after the Sprint Cup Series’ night race at the half-mile track.