Tennessee has sold out of its 40,000 ticket allotment for the Battle at Bristol.
A football game that is more than 2 1/2 years away.
The school announced the sellout on Tuesday for the game at Bristol Motor Speedway against Virginia Tech on Sept. 10, 2016. Deposits have been put down on 35,000 of the seats and the other 5,000 have been reserved for students.
"The overwhelming response to the Battle at Bristol speaks to the passion of our amazing Tennessee fans," Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart said in a statement. "Our fans' excitement and their strong and immediate response to the Battle at Bristol game, which is still 32 months away, says everything you need to know about the most devoted fan base in the nation."
Tennessee said that it was working with the track to secure more seats.
Bristol Motor Speedway seats almost 160,000 people and won't diminish by much to accommodate football. If Tennessee's announcement is any indication, the track could be close to a sellout and set the record for most fans at a college football game. The record for attendance at a college game is held by Michigan Stadium at 115,109 for a game against Notre Dame.
The track is located approximately halfway between Knoxville, Tenn. the site of the Tennessee campus and Blacksburg, Va., where Virginia Tech is.
Bristol boasts grandstands around the entire .538 mile oval and the football field will be laid over the middle of the asphalt infield inside of the track. (The scoring pylon in the middle of the track will have to be removed for the game.)
Last week, Daytona International Speedway president Joie Chitwood restated his desire to have the track host a college football game. Daytona has hosted football games in its infield before, but none since 1975.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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