Montgomery Gentry will headline Sound & Speed in Nashville

Montgomery Gentry will headline the kickoff concert of the Sprint Sound & Speed Presented by SunTrust at 8:00 p.m. on Jan. 9 at the Sommet Center.

The festival begins the next day at Municipal Auditorium, where racing and country music fans can interact with drivers, team owners and entertainers through autograph and story-telling sessions. NASCAR stars confirmed to attend are Dale Earnhardt Jr., Michael Waltrip, Reed Sorensen and David Stremme. Others confirmed for the sessions are Josh Turner, Jason Michael Carroll, members of Diamond Rio and Rick Huckaby.

Concert tickets are $17.50-$35 and will go on sale Dec. 12 through Ticketmaster and http://www.soundandspeed.org/. Festival tickets, which are $20 for adults and $15 for children, are on sale now. A combo ticket for both events will range from $40 to $50.

The fourth annual event benefits the Victory Junction camp and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Tickets now on sale for Sound & Speed concert

Tickets are on sale for the 2008 Sprint Sound & Speed Presented by SunTrust festival, which for the third consecutive year will bring together stars of country music and NASCAR and concludes with a concert extravaganza headlined by Grammy-winning, multi-platinum-selling recording artist Alan Jackson, with special guests Taylor Swift and Jason Michael Carroll, and other top country music performers at Nashville's Sommet Center.

Fans of country music and racing have two blockbuster events on Jan. 12 in the Sommet Center: the annual Backstage Garage Pass festivities, where they can get up-close-and-personal with NASCAR and country music stars for autographs, story-telling and question-answer sessions from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST, and the concert at 8 p.m. headlined by Jackson and special guests Swift and Carroll. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster and the Sound & Speed Website.

Tickets are $39.50 for the concert, $20 for the Backstage Garage Pass event, or $54.50 for both events.