ETSU to face Western Carolina at Bristol Motor Speedway

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) East Tennessee State and Western Carolina will play a football game at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept. 17. The move was announced at a

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) East Tennessee State and Western Carolina will play a football game at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept. 17.

The move was announced at a Thursday afternoon news conference. ETSU coach Carl Torbush said in a statement it was a ''once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our players, coaches, staff, university and fans.''

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The Football Championship Subdivision programs will have their game exactly one week after Tennessee and Virginia Tech face off at the speedway on Sept. 10. Dana Landry, a spokesman for the speedway, said the infrastructure from the Tennessee-Virginia Tech will remain in place for the ETSU-Western Carolina game, though a smaller capacity is expected for the Sept. 17 matchup.

Landry said there had been ongoing discussions about this game for at least a year before Thursday's announcement.