Jeff Gordon once got out of a speeding ticket thanks to Dale Earnhardt Jr.

While they’re currently analysts on competing networks, NBC’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Fox’s Jeff Gordon were teammates for nearly a decade. But the first time the two drivers needed to work together as teammates wasn’t on the racetrack; it was instead while Gordon was pulled over on the highway by the police.

While on Earnhardt’s podcast, the Dale Jr. Download, a fan asked about the time Earnhardt was able to get Gordon out of a speeding ticket. Gordon explained that it was 2007 and he wanted to call Earnhardt to congratulate him on the new ride at Hendrick Motorsports and mention that they would be teammates. During the ensuing call, Gordon was pulled over for speeding and talking on his phone without using a hands-free device. Rolling the dice and finding out the police officer was a Dale Jr. fan, Gordon had Earnhardt talk to the officer and that was the end of that.

Transcription provided by For The Win:

“I was driving to dinner and I said, I’mma 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?’ And 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.’ And he goes, ‘What?’ And I just handed the phone off and you spoke to him for two seconds and got me out of it!”

I wouldn’t exactly recommend ever trying to get out of a ticket but if you have the opportunity, I guess you take it. For Earnhardt, he was just trying to fit in on the team and “make a great impression.” I guess getting the most senior member of the team out of a ticket on your first day counts.

[For The Win/Photo: Getty Images]