Authorities arrested an Alabama fugitive after they say he traded a gun for tickets to the NASCAR race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Hampton police Officer Eric Hayes tells WSB-TV that vendors alerted him on Wednesday to a man trying to sell a .22 caliber pistol. Hayes says 51-year-old Michael Lynn Sherer managed to trade the gun for two tickets to the race before the officer spotted him.

Authorities in Alabama say escaped from the Winston County jail, where he was being held on a murder charge in the killing of 52-year-old Thomas Lynn Smith on Aug. 24.

Hayes said that, when approached by officers, Sherer initially gave them Smith’s name, but they suspected something was wrong when he stumbled over his birth date.

Hampton police say a hearing will be held soon to extradite Sherer back to Alabama.