Speedway Classic Brought Some Serious NASCAR Flavor; Even A Rain Delay!

The MLB Speedway Classic pit the Cincinnati Reds against the Atlanta Braves at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night, and if you weren't aware that the game was taking place at one of the most iconic venues in stock car racing, then the pre-game festivities would have gone a long way in helping you connect the dots.

The festivities got underway the way all NASCAR races get underway, and that was with a driver — or in this case, player — parade around the 0.533-mile track while the unlikely up of Tim McGraw and Pitbull blasted some tunes.

I've definitely never seen a baseball game start like this, and I feel comfortable assuming you haven't either. 

You could tell that it was a special moment for the players, too. There were plenty of phones out from players as they tried not to fall over in the bed of a pickup truck.

READ: NHL EXECUTIVES WILL REPORTEDLY BE AT SPEEDWAY CLASSIC TO SEE IF TRACK COULD HOST A GAME

Of course, there was some time for a nice tip of the cap to the US of A too!

Once the parade lap was over and the players could let go of those handles they were clinging to for dear life, there was more NASCAR goodness in store for player introductions.

NASCAR may be in Iowa this weekend, but I see some pretty solid two-tire stops happening at Bristol, although the Reds crew may have been in danger of getting a pass-through penalty for an uncontrolled tire.

It's the little things, guys. C'mon. 

Anyway, Things like this are what make these special events so, well, special, and they got the MLB record 85,000 or so fans on hand fired up for the game.

Aaaaaand then the rain came to bring out a red flag.

I guess the trucks doing the parade laps weren't going fast enough to get a little vortex stirred up (the ol' Darrell Waltrip "Vortex Theory"), but that wasn't the case, and no sooner had player intros wrapped up, the tarp came out, and it was time to sit around and wait.

But, hey, isn't a rain delay the most NASCAR thing that could've happened?