Sound and Speed Rally's Back in Music City

Yes, Country music and NASCAR fans it was that time again where some of your favorite NASCAR drivers teamed up some of your favorite Country singers for a day filled with autographs, photos, interviews and a concert. If you remember correctly last years event was a complete disaster from the word go. Thousands of people stood out in the snow for hours trying to get a wristband to see their favorite driver and/or favorite singer.

This year I have to say I was pleasantly surprised over all. The whole operation seemed better organized right from the very start. Fans were still in line as early at 5:00 a.m. only this time they were standing in the middle of the park like last year.
This year there was a line outside the GEC where you stood in one line until they turned fans loose into a parking lot across the street. In the parking lots fans were greeted with a few trailers with different merchandise and one long line of tents where they got their wristbands.

The one huge difference this year was that unlike last year they artists and drivers were not paired together. They were separate and you got a wristband for either the driver you wanted to see or the singer you wanted to see. If you remember last year you were only allowed ONE wristband and that was all. This year was totally different. Once you got your top priority wristband, and I think everyone did, you were allowed to go back and get additional wristbands for those artists and drivers that still had wristbands available. I know personally I had 3 wristbands but saw more than just the three I had wristbands for. I saw people walking around the GEC with as many as 5 different wristbands.

This year if you had a wristband before they ran out you were guaranteed to see the driver or artist you had the wristband for unlike last year when they cut off lines before everyone got through. After last year there were far fewer fans that were willing to give this years event a second chance.

NASCAR drivers that participated this year were Richard & Kyle Petty, Aric Almirola, Bobby Allison, Bobby LaBonte, Darrell and Michael Waltrip, David Stremme, Ernie Irvan, Jamie McMurray, Kertus Davis, Rex White, Richard Childress, Ryan Newman, Sam Bass and Greg Biffle. Country artists that participated this year were Ashley Monroe, Jo Dee Messina, Aaron Benward (Blue County), Aaron Tippin, Whisperin Bill Anderson, Bucky Covington, Craig Morgan, Eddie Stubbs, Eli Gold, Joe Nichols, John Anderson, Josh Turner, Liz Allison, Mel Tillis, Ray Scott, Ray Stevens, Rodney Atkins, Trace Adkins and Jo Dee Messina.

If you notice from the list there were more country artists than NASCAR drivers. Personally I think the organizers are scared to bring in the more popular drivers after the fiasco last year when they had Dale Earnhardt Jr. there. Even some of the country singers I had never heard of before.

Some fans were still not totally satisfied with the event again this year and said they won't ever return again. The one big complaint I did hear was about the security at the GEC. When asked people were saying the security guards were just down right rude to them. Not a good thing when you are trying to recover from a disaster the year before.

That night fans that had purchased tickets saw a concert with Rodney Atkins, Josh Turner, John Anderson and Jo Dee Messina. While the music was hot and kept the crowd dancing in their seats the meet and greet with Jo Dee Messina was disappointing.

Fans were taken into a big room and put in a line to keep things orderly and moving smoothly, but before Jo Dee even entered the room, the waiting fans were told that she was not going to be signing any autographs as per her request.
Well Okay the fans handled that seemingly okay. Then they found out they were not allowed to even have their picture taken with Jo Dee with their own camera. They had some man with a little digital camera who took their pictures with Jo Dee and then they had to put their name and e-mail address on a list so the photo could be e-mailed to them.

What was that all about? I have no idea but if you ask me, that's not the way to keep a growing fan base. I know Jo Dee is very busy but come on not allowing fans to use their camera for photos? What's up with that?

All in all Sound and Speed 2007 was a great event with an improvement of 100% over last year. I'm glad this writer gave them another chance to prove what a great event it can be for everyone involved and there's no doubt that Speed and Sound 2008 will be even better.

Related Websites:
Victory Junction Gang Camp
Sound and Speed
Country Music Hall of Fame

Article Written & Submitted by Nora Mayor