From the Bristol Speedway Classic to the U.S. Open, AstroTurf Corporation has become the trusted name for the world’s most ambitious playing surfaces.
Engineering Baseball’s Boldest Stage
The Bristol Motor Speedway has long been known as “The Last Great Colosseum,” with 160,000 seats towering above one of the fastest short tracks in NASCAR. But for the 2025 MLB Speedway Classic, the steep-banked oval became the foundation for something entirely new: hosting a regular season MLB game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Atlanta Braves.
Transforming the Bristol Motor Speedway into a baseball field required a complete reinvention of the surface. Over 15,000 tons of granite and fill were brought in to flatten the oval, creating a perfectly level foundation where race cars usually tear through at 140 mph. Drainage infrastructure was embedded layer by layer, ensuring the field could withstand both the Tennessee summer and the torrential storm that swept through game day.
AstroTurf, the Official Synthetic Turf Partner of Major League Baseball, was chosen to provide the playing surface for the MLB Speedway Classic. The Diamond Series synthetic turf system was installed with millimeter precision, delivering durability, uniformity, and performance identical to the league’s best permanent ballparks. The result? A field ready for the highest level of baseball, in a place it had never been played before.
Lessons from Global Stages
The MLB Speedway Classic is the latest chapter in a shared legacy of reimagining where and how sports can be played. Together with our sister brands Laykold, Rekortan, and Poligras, we continue to engineer surfaces that make the impossible possible.
Laykold
The Fountains during the Miami Open tennis tournament,Tuesday, Mar. 19, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (LS/South Florida Stadium)
Miami Open: For more than 40 years as the Official Surface of the Miami Open, Laykold has continually innovated to meet the demands of changing venues. The 2019 move to Hard Rock Stadium, home of NFL’s Miami Dolphins, required custom colors, precise pace ratings, and the installation of thirty courts under intense time pressure. FastDry Courts and Laykold technology enabled rapid installation, building one of the sport’s most iconic “pop-up” events.
US Open: As the Official Court Surface of the US Open for the last 5 years, Laykold has consistently demonstrated a winning formula of installation experience and product quality to ensure that across and within courts, the surface plays consistently as the world’s top tennis players step out into New York’s heat and humidity.
Rekortan
In early 2025, Rekortan resurfaced Jamaica’s National Stadium in record time to host the inaugural Grand Slam Track event. The project transformed a deteriorating track into a world-class surface in just two weeks. The challenge included custom materials in Jamaican green, black, and gold, coordinating the local and overseas workforce. Despite the tight timeline, the project was completed flawlessly.
Poligras
Poligras continues to define hockey at the highest level, chosen for nine Olympic Games and seven World Cups. The 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles will be the ninth Olympic Games played on Poligras turf.
The Paris 2024 Summer Games showcased the world’s first carbon-zero turf. LA 2028 will continue that tradition, delivering the next generation of high-performance, sustainable hockey surfaces at the iconic home of the LA Galaxy. The new turf will be available globally through Polytan in Europe and Australia, and AstroTurf in the US.
Beyond the Speedway
Each of these projects shares the same DNA: transforming vision into reality through surfaces engineered for elite performance.
The MLB Speedway Classic did not just make history — it set records. Attendance: 91,032 fans, the largest crowd ever for an MLB regular season game, eclipsing a mark that had stood since 1954. Broadcast Reach: 2.4 million viewers tuned in worldwide.
Even a two-hour rain delay could not overshadow the historic game. While the infield took on wet weather, the AstroTurf surface performed exactly as designed, draining efficiently and preserving the integrity of the field.
The MLB Speedway Classic was more than a field installation. It was a showcase of what’s possible when expertise, innovation, and vision come together. From Bristol Motor Speedway asphalt to a Major League Baseball diamond, AstroTurf once again demonstrated that wherever sport dreams big, we deliver the surface that makes it real.
Get Your Field:
For more information about AstroTurf and its innovative turf solutions, please visit astroturf.com.
About AstroTurf® Corporation
AstroTurf® Corporation is the original inventor and innovator of synthetic sports surfacing, leading the industry for 60 years. Known for pioneering surfacing solutions, AstroTurf® Corporation delivers cutting-edge products focused on performance, safety, and sustainability.
The company’s portfolio includes AstroTurf® fields, the trusted name in synthetic turf; Rekortan® tracks, the benchmark for elite running surfaces; Laykold® courts, the premier choice for tennis and multi-sport court play; and SYNLawn®, the industry leader in residential and commercial landscaping solutions. These products are the original brands in their respective categories and set the standard for quality and innovation in sports and recreational surfacing.
AstroTurf® is dedicated to creating world-class sports and recreational environments that inspire athletes and elevate communities. For more information, visit astroturf.com.
About Sport Group
Sport Group is a leading designer, manufacturer and installer of artificial surfaces serving the global sports flooring, leisure and landscaping and industrial markets to over 70 countries globally. Headquartered in Burgheim, Germany, the company’s brand portfolio includes AstroTurf® (the iconic brand that invented the industry), Polytan®, SYNLawn®, LigaTurf®, Poligras®, Rekortan®, and Laykold®.
Sport Group is an industry leader in green technologies, pioneering sustainable products and services such as the world’s first carbon neutral soccer turf, the world’s first carbon zero field hockey turf and development of the industry’s first, and only, turf recycling facility capable of recycling EPDM rubber.
The company has approximately 2,400 employees and operates nine vertically integrated manufacturing facilities and 31 distribution centers across the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions. For additional information about Sport Group, please visit sportgroup-holding.com.
