NASCAR drivers roast each other at 'After the Lap'

LAS VEGAS – NASCAR's annual "After the Lap" is billed as a driver-tell-all event, and this year's version certainly didn't disappoint.

The 16 Chase drivers traded one-liners, exchanged playful jabs and told stories – perhaps none better than Jeff Gordon's tale of how Dale Earnhardt Jr. once got him out of a speeding ticket.

Gordon had called to congratulate Earnhardt in 2007 when the latter driver signed with Hendrick Motorsports, where Gordon already drove. But Gordon suddenly saw flashing lights in his rear-view mirror.

"I said, 'Hey man, congratulations, happy to have you on the team,'" Gordon said. "(Then) I said, 'Hey man, I'm getting pulled over, hang on one second.'

"The (police officer) was like, 'License and registration.' I was like, 'Are you a Dale Jr. fan?' Because I knew the way he looked at me, he definitely was not a Jeff Gordon fan. I've seen that look before.

"So I handed the phone and (Earnhardt) said hi. (Then the cop) said, 'Have a nice day.'"

Said Earnhardt: "True story. I don't even remember what I told him, but I didn't know I was getting you out of a ticket."

Among the other highlights:

-- Brad Keselowski was asked why he was using his phone – apparently texting – in the middle of the event.

"I'm on the phone with my girlfriend, who sent me a picture of her in her bra," Keselowski said. "Sorry. Priorities."

"That's not the first time you've seen it, is it?" Greg Biffle said as the audience howled.

Said Denny Hamlin of the embattled Keselowski: "That's the last good relationship he's got."

-- Kasey Kahne was asked what he thinks of his predominately female fan base.

"I'd rather have girls than guys." Kahne said as the drivers and audience burst into laughter.

"I'm pretty sure nobody disagrees with that, right?" Gordon said.

-- Kyle Busch kept stirring the pot, which caught the attention of Kevin Harvick.

"Has anyone noticed how happy Kyle is?" Harvick said. "Kyle is so happy they booed Brad more than him."

"I feel like Dale Earnhardt Jr. anytime I walk in anywhere now," said Busch with a smile, acknowledging he's no longer NASCAR's biggest villain.

-- After AJ Allmendinger joked he shops at "Teen Gap," Ryan Newman said, "I shop at the Big and Tall."

Cracked Harvick: "I don't know about the 'tall' part."

-- Gordon chided Joey Logano for being too politically correct when answering a question about Keselowski. Said Logano: "I haven't wanted to kick his ass yet like you."

-- Busch was asked if Gordon was his hero growing up. "Jeff was, yeah," Busch joked.

Later, Busch recalled the time when, as a youngster, he walked up to Gordon during a test session and said, "Hey, I'm Kyle Busch. I'm going to kick your ass in a few years. Would you sign this?" (Gordon said he doesn't remember that incident.)

-- Busch told future Toyota teammate Carl Edwards not to use the 'F' word: "Ford." But Edwards, who helped give away a Ford Mustang, said "they're paying me until 2015."

-- Hamlin corrected host Marty Smith when he asked about last year's "After the Lap," then used it as an opportunity to bring up Logano's move at Auto Club Speedway which resulted in a crash that broke Hamlin's back.

"I wasn't part of this last year," Hamlin said. Thanks, Joey."

-- Earnhardt recalled a time when he raced against his dad, the late Dale Earnhardt Sr., in Japan and the two tangled on the track. Earnhardt said his dad threw a shoe at him after the race so hard ("100 mph," he said) that it put a hole in the wall.

-- Gordon was telling how he got his start in NASCAR and Aric Almirola interrupted.

"Are you just describing the plot to Days of Thunder?" Almirola said.

-- Two-year-old Keelan Harvick came on stage with his champion dad, but he didn't seem to like the hoopla. He covered his ears whenever the audience laughed or applauded and gave a thumbs down when mom DeLana asked if it was good or bad that Kevin was the champ (she said it was because it means he's been gone a lot).

-- A music video was shown of drivers and personalities lip-synching to "Let it Go" from Frozen, Iggy Azalea's "Fancy," Katy Perry's "Roar" and Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off."