Play ball, take 2: The Braves take the MLB Speedway Classic at Bristol after rain suspension

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — A record crowd of 91,032 for a regular-season Major League Baseball game got to see all the pomp and pageantry with the MLB Speedway Classic before the rain washed out the game itself in the bottom of the first inning.

Fans returning Sunday only wanted to watch the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds play ball. They enjoyed enough of star Tim McGraw and Pitbull in the rain that suspended the first MLB regular-season game in the state of Tennessee.

“We got to see all of that (Saturday), so as long as we see game today I think we’ll be good,” Cindy Lowe of Mount Airy, North Carolina, said.

Craig Marcum agreed. He and his family, with three children, were ready to see baseball even if Marcum is the Reds' fan surrounded by relatives rooting for the Braves. They had a good time seeing McGraw and country singer Jake Owen.

Sunday was dry at Bristol Motor Speedway with overcast skies. The sun actually broke through in the ninth inning on what wound up a perfect day for baseball. The Braves trailed 1-0 when the game resumed Sunday, and Eli White hit two home runs leading Atlanta over the Reds 4-2.

“We’re really glad that they played the game today instead of last night because we sat here a couple hours in the rain and everybody was saturated even with rain gear,” Marcum said. “The kids are happy so we’re happy.”

Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said it was a shame the rain ruined a beautiful evening Saturday, though both teams came through Sunday with a good game and no complaints.

“Kudos to all the fans who came back,” Snitker said. “I mean after the weather and getting soaked and everything yesterday, it was great. I thought it was a great production. You look back, it's kind of cool to be a part of this.”

Organizers also got to show off the fun planned during the game.

Fans passed car cutouts of the Reds and Braves for a race through the stands. Two fans tried to hit balls from the apron over the track and fence, and two others had to put on NASCAR fire suits and race to four-wheelers for a race to the finish line.

The grounds crew even wore uniforms looking like a NASCAR pit crew’s fire suits.

And something that never could've happened before at Bristol took part during the seventh-inning stretch: Fans sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game."

When White became the first MLB player to hit a home run at the historic racetrack, that allowed Bristol's “Home Run” car to take a lap in celebration. When one foul ball bounced off the track past the outfield wall in right, the man who failed to throw the ball over the fence to fans was booed.

This MLB Speedway Classic was first announced nearly a year ago as part of Commissioner Rob Manfred’s push to take MLB to places where baseball isn’t played every day live. MLB played a game at. the “Field of Dreams” movie site in Iowa in both 2021 and 2022. Alabama and North Carolina, too.

MLB didn’t try to sell every ticket inside the speedway that drew 156,990 for the Battle of Bristol college football game in 2016 with a racing capacity of 146,000. The attendance was well above the previous paid attendance of 84,587 on Sept. 12, 1954, when Cleveland Stadium hosted the New York Yankees.

Simply canceling this game wasn't an option. The Reds are in the chase for a wild-card spot, and this is the last time these teams meet this season. Teams had police escorts to make sure they got back to Bristol on Sunday.

For fans, the commute back to Bristol Motor Speedway, billed as “The Last Great Colosseum” with its history as a half-mile bullring of a racetrack, was easier for some than others.

Steven Long of Atlanta, Georgia, was on a party bus to his hotel in Knoxville with a bunch of distributors. He drove the 110 miles back to Bristol on Sunday by himself even though he had hoped to be driving home. He couldn't miss the first MLB game at a racetrack.

“I had to come back,” said Long, who wore his Braves jersey hoping for a win.

MLB will be announcing an attendance figure later Sunday. Officials already knew this event would draw a record crowd with 85,000 tickets sold as of Monday.

The big question Sunday was how many people would return for baseball itself after the big party that MLB and Bristol threw for fans Saturday. For Lowe and Jason Lawson, this is a moment they couldn't miss after buying tickets in May.

“The history, the nostalgia of Bristol Motor Speedway combined with Major League Baseball all in one I think,” Lowe said.

Long was being joined by a couple of friends. He saw one benefit of returning even if others chose not to.

“We’ll have more space around us, so we won’t be on top of each other,” Long said.

Indeed. Fans had plenty of room to spread out, dance and enjoy the capping event of the MLB Speedway Classic.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Fans gather for the MLB Speedway Classic baseball game at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn., Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. Play was resumed today after yesterday's weather delay. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

A fan poses before the MLB Speedway Classic baseball game at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn., Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. Play was resumed today after yesterday's weather delay. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Fans gather for the MLB Speedway Classic baseball game at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn., Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. Play was resumed today after yesterday's weather delay. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Cincinnati Reds' Tyler Stephenson stands on first during the eighth inning of the MLB Speedway Classic baseball game against the Atlanta Braves at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn., Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. Play was resumed today after yesterday's weather delay. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Atlanta Braves outfielder Eli White holds the trophy after their win against the Cincinnati Reds I the MLB Speedway Classic baseball game at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn., Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. Play was resumed today after yesterday's weather delay. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Fans gather for the MLB Speedway Classic baseball game at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn., Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. Play was resumed today after yesterday's weather delay. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

A fan poses before the MLB Speedway Classic baseball game at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn., Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. Play was resumed today after yesterday's weather delay. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Fans gather for the MLB Speedway Classic baseball game at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn., Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. Play was resumed today after yesterday's weather delay. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez used her first state of the union message Thursday to advocate for opening the crucial state-run oil industry to more foreign investment following the Trump administration's pledge to seize control of Venezuelan crude sales.

For the first time, Rodríguez laid out a vision for Venezuela’s new political reality — one that challenges her government’s most deeply rooted beliefs less than two weeks after the United States captured and toppled former President Nicolás Maduro.

Under pressure from the U.S. to cooperate with its plans for reshaping Venezuela’s sanctioned oil industry, Maduro's former vice president declared that a “new policy is being formed in Venezuela."

She urged the foreign diplomats in attendance to tell investors abroad about the changes and called on lawmakers to approve oil sector reforms that would secure foreign firms' access to Venezuela’s vast reserves.

“Venezuela, in free trade relations with the world, can sell the products of its energy industry,” she said.

The Trump administration has said it plans to control future oil export revenues to ensure it benefits the Venezuelan people.

In that vein, Rodríguez described cash from the oil sales flowing into two sovereign wealth funds, one to support crisis-stricken health services and another to bolster public infrastructure, much of which was built under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, and has since deteriorated.

These days the country's hospitals are so poorly equipped that patients are asked to provide supplies needed for their care, from syringes to surgical screws.

While Rodríguez criticized the U.S. capture of Maduro and referred to a “stain on our relations," she also promoted the resumption of diplomacy between the historic adversaries. Her succinct, 44-minute speech and mollifying tone marked a dramatic contrast to her predecessors' fiery rants against U.S. imperialism that often went on for hours.

“Let us not be afraid of diplomacy,” Rodriguez. “I ask that politics not be transformed, that it not begin with hatred and intolerance.”

The day before, she gave a 4-minute briefing to the media to say her government would continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro's harsh rule. But human rights groups have verified just a fraction of the releases that she claimed took place.

Rodríguez appears to be threading a needle.

A portrait of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, was displayed next to her as she spoke. She called for the U.S. government to "respect the dignity" of Maduro, who is being held in a Brooklyn jail after pleading not guilty to drug-trafficking charges. She portrayed herself as defending Venezuela's sovereignty even as the country warmed up to the U.S. with dizzying speed.

“If one day, as acting president, I have to go to Washington, I will do so standing up, walking, not being dragged," she said. "I'll go standing tall ... never crawling.”

Rodríguez delivered her speech as Venezuela's Nobel Prize-winning opposition leader María Corina Machado was the one in Washington to meet President Donald Trump.

Since Maduro's ouster, Trump has frozen Machado out of discussions about the nation's political fate while embracing Rodríguez, praising Maduro’s long-time loyalist as a “terrific person” after holding his first known phone call with her on Wednesday.

Machado, whose party is considered to have won the tumultuous 2024 presidential elections despite Maduro's claims of victory, said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump during their closed-door conversation.

Emerging from the White House afterward, she greeted dozens of cheering supporters. "We can count on President Trump,” she told them, without elaborating.

Her role in Venezuelan politics remains uncertain as Rodríguez’s government has been effectively relieved of having to hold elections for the foreseeable future.

Machado’s meeting with Trump received no coverage in Venezuela.

The country's state-run TV still pumps out a steady stream of pro-government images, including various statements from Iranian and Russian officials decrying “U.S. aggression" and wall-to-wall coverage of state-orchestrated rallies demanding Maduro's return.

Crowds of teachers on Thursday marched through the streets of Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, carrying posters condemning the U.S. for “kidnapping” Maduro and chanting slogans in support of the government. National police wearing riot gear were everywhere. Pro-government graffiti scrawled across city walls read: “To doubt is to betray."

“They've kept the same anti-imperialist rhetoric going, but more moderated," said David Smilde, a Venezuela expert at Tulane University who has studied Venezuela for 30 years. “Their idea is to give Trump everything he wants economically, but stay the course politically."

On the streets of central Caracas, most Venezuelans going about their days declined to be interviewed about their opinions, fearful of government reprisals as Maduro's security apparatus remains intact. Others were simply at a loss of what to say about their country's strange new reality in which the U.S. claims to call the shots.

“It’s a complete sea of ​​uncertainty, and the only one who now has the power to make decisions is the United States government,” said Pablo Rojas, 28, a music producer.

He said he was following Trump's meeting with Machado closely "to see if she takes a leadership position, if they consider her ready to lead the country or be a candidate." He shook his head in puzzlement. “It’s impossible to know what will happen.”

Associated Press writers Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Megan Janetsky in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez arrives at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez delivers her first state of the union address at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Ceylis Mendez and her daughter Zoe cool off in the Gulf of Venezuela in front of the Cardon oil refinery off the shore of Punta Cardon, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Flames rise from flare stacks at the Amuay refinery in Los Taques, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez, left, and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello arrive at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez addresses lawmakers next to a picture of former President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez, center, her brother National Assembly President, Jorge Rodriguez, left, and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello arrive at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez addresses the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez addresses the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez makes a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez, center, smiles flanked by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, right, and National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez after making a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)