BRISTOL, Tenn. – Nathan and Christel Brooks were so eager to be a part of history that they were willing to relocate their house to these Upper East Tennessee hills.
The Chattanooga couple, owners of Red Bank Athletic Shop, are living in a white 29-foot travel trailer while their house is being built. They literally hitched that temporary home to a truck and moved it just outside Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday morning to soak in every bit of atmosphere leading up to Saturday night’s game.
In the days leading up to the Battle at Bristol between Tennessee and Virginia Tech, the Brookses worked via their phones and laptops during the day, grilled out with friends at night and even took in the Kenny Chesney concert Friday night.
“We’ve been planning this trip since this game was announced (in October 2013),” Christel said. “Neither of us has ever been here for a NASCAR race, but we knew it would be neat just to get to say we were a part of something like this.
“I’m a huge Tennessee fan, so I knew I had to be here to see this.”
Her husband, a devout Alabama fan who admitted he was pulling for Appalachian State in the Volunteers’ season opener last week, was so swept up in the atmosphere surrounding the event that he wore an orange polo shirt into the stadium.
“I had to support my wife,” Nathan said with a laugh. “She’s pretty good about supporting me during Alabama games, even though she’s brainwashed our 6-year-old son (Cooper) to be a Tennessee fan. We came here for the experience. It’s like a mini vacation for us, and it’s been a fun week. The best part is we don’t have to fight through traffic after the game. We just go back to our trailer.”
They were part of the record 156,990 fans willing to pay at least $150 for each ticket and fill one of NASCAR’s premier coliseums to help make for a historical setting and an electric atmosphere. Billed as “college football’s biggest game ever,” the idea that had been in the works for nearly two decades finally became reality.
ESPN’s “College Gameday” broadcast from outside the speedway early Saturday morning, with Vols coach Butch Jones flying in via helicopter to join the set, along with NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. as part of the festivities and a national television audience tuned in Saturday night.
Lining the roadways leading into the stadium – plus the front yards of most homes as well as every nook, cranny and hill for several miles of the surrounding area – were cars, trucks, motorcycles and RVs with Vols or Hokies flags waving.
More than a mile outside the stadium Joe Scruggs, a 40-year UT season-ticket holder and retired Chattanooga-area postal worker, sat tailgating with eight other family members, including his sister Joy, who played on the late Pat Summitt’s first Lady Vols basketball team and now lives in Virginia.
“I can’t get over how many cars and campers and people there are,” Scruggs said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s an unbelievable experience. It’s like a bowl game atmosphere, only with a whole lot more people.
“The day this game was officially announced, as soon as they allowed you to order tickets I did,” said Scruggs, who has been a high school basketball referee for 44 years. “Just the novelty of being here, being a part of the largest crowd to ever see a game, is something special. Especially getting to do it with my family. We’ll talk about this for a long time, I’m sure.”
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.