Jeff Gordon Once Got A Speeding Ticket Because The Cop Was A Dale Earnhardt Fan

The rivalry ran deep.

When I was growing up, there was no bigger rivalry in NASCAR than Dale Earnhardt vs. Jeff Gordon.

By the time Gordon made his debut in the Cup Series back in 1992, Earnhardt had cemented himself among the all-time greats in the sport, having already won five of his seven championships and pretty much everything else there was to win.

And while he was a polarizing figure in the sport throughout his career, the Intimidator had a legion of die-hard fans who weren’t exactly happy about some hotshot young driver (from California, no less) coming in and beating their guy.

Gordon won his first championship in just his third full season in the Cup Series, and was quickly anointed as “the next Dale Earnhardt,” which didn’t exactly sit well with Earnhardt fans. Long story short, if you were an Earnhardt fan, you hated Jeff Gordon – and vice versa.

Of course the two grew to be friendly off the track, but their heated battles on the track left NASCAR fans forced to choose between the two camps, and there really wasn’t any in between. And unfortunately for Gordon, he once got pulled over by a cop who happened to be in the other camp.

The four time Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Fame Driver, who now serves as Vice Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, recalled the interaction with a police officer in North Carolina a while back.

Gordon was running behind after staying late at an autograph signing, and needed to get to the airport to get to a race:

“I’m coming down Highway 29 leaving Charlotte Motor Speedway and I’m cruising along pretty quick. I get pulled over and I’m like, ‘Great, just what I need.’ 

I thought, ‘Man, if ever maybe there’s a chance I can get out of this ticket and use my name, now’s a good time. I mean, my name was all over the sign outside Charlotte Motor Speedway.”

Well Gordon tried to pull the “don’t you know who I am” card. But unfortunately for him, the cop DID know who he was:

“So I said to him, I said, ‘Man is there ANY way you could cut me a break?’ I said, ‘I’m a NASCAR driver.’

He goes, ‘Oh yeah, you’re Jeff Gordon, right? Yeah man, I know who you are. But I’m an Earnhardt fan’ as he ripped off that ticket and handed to me.”

You just know that guy’s family and friends who were Earnhardt fans would never forgive him for cutting Jeff Gordon a break.

Gordon admits that “that one stung.”

“That was the day Earnhardt won.”

Fortunately for Gordon, knowing the Earnhardts has also helped him get out of trouble too.

On an episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, Gordon recalled the time that Dale Earnhardt Jr. helped him out of a ticket thanks to a cop who was a Junior fan.

It was right around the time that Earnhardt made the switch to Hendrick Motorsports, so Jeff gave him a call to congratulate him and welcome him to the team:

“I was driving to dinner and I said, I’m gonna call him. And I didn’t have the hands-free set up in the car, so I just call him.

So I’m driving along, on the phone, we’re talking, I’m congratulating you and welcoming you to the team, and it’s cool. You picked up, and we’re having a nice conversation.

And all of a sudden, I’ve got blue lights in my rear window, and I’m like, ‘Uh oh, I’m getting pulled over.’

So, I wasn’t sure if I should stay on the phone with Dale or not, but I said, ‘No no, stay on here. I may need you.’ And luckily I did because first, the guy says to me, ‘You know you’re not supposed to be on a cellphone.’

And then second, he’s like, ‘And you were speeding.’ And I just said… and I never do this, but I said this is the moment I’ve got to pull this off.

“I said, ‘I know, I’m sorry. You don’t happen to be a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan, are you?’

He’s like, ‘Well yeah, why? What does that have to do with anything?’

And I said, ‘Well I’ve got him on the phone. I was congratulating him on something.’

He goes, ‘What?’

And I just handed the phone off and you spoke to him for two seconds and got me out of it.”

You win some, you lose some.

@alectheflexerofficial

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