BRISTOL, Tenn. — Eli White became the first player to homer not just once but twice at a NASCAR track and Hurston Waldrep earned his first MLB win pitching at the famed venue where Darrell Waltrip tasted so much success.
Needless to say, the 2025 MLB Speedway Classic created some lifelong memories for the Braves, who used the contributions of White and Waldrep to claim a 4-2 win over the Reds on Sunday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway.
White wouldn’t have been in the lineup had Ronald Acuña Jr. not been on the 10-day injured list with the right calf strain he suffered on Tuesday. As for Waldrep, he would have never even come to Bristol if rain hadn’t forced the game to be suspended after just four outs on Saturday night.
Waldrep, who ranks as the Braves’ No. 4 prospect per MLB Pipeline, cleaned the mess he inherited in the first inning and then gained a lead courtesy of White’s three-run homer off Brent Suter in the second. The 411-foot shot bounced off the track’s bank beyond the left-field wall.
White added to his historic achievement by adding a seventh-inning leadoff homer against Scott Barlow. It was the second multihomer game of the 31-year-old outfielder’s career and of course, the first multihomer game recorded at a racetrack.
White’s first two-homer game since 2021 provided plenty of support for Waldrep, who needed just 75 pitches to limit the Reds to one run over 5 2/3 innings. The 2023 first-round selection struck out four and issued just two walks. It was a very efficient outing for the young hurler who has had a 12.3 percent walk rate at the Triple-A level this year.
Waldrep was scheduled to start for Triple-A Gwinnett on Sunday but instead made a quick trip to eastern Tennessee. He arrived and learned he would be on the mound when the game resumed with two on, one out and the Reds leading 1-0.
The Reds quickly executed a double steal to put runners at second and third. Austin Riley helped erase the threat when he gloved Miguel Andujar’s hot shot down the third-base line and then made a diving tag of Elly De La Cruz to prevent a run. Riley left the game a few innings later with lower abdominal pain, an ailment that forced him to the injured list last month.
Riley’s exit was the only thing that put a damper on a memorable day for both White and Waldrep.
Waldrep’s only previous MLB experience came last year, when he allowed 13 runs and completed just seven innings over two starts.
