by FOX Sports Net

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Chris Rose: Every weekend, our first guest is chasing down a dream or at least about 42 other drivers in the Nextel Cup Series. He is one of the superstars on the circuit with 17 career wins, including the Daytona 500 back in '04. He has three top-five finishes in the overall points standings. Next year, he's making the big move to join Hendrick Motorsports. We say hello once again to Dale Earnhardt Jr. Little E, what's going on?

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Not a whole lot. What are you guys up to?

Chris Rose: You know, just the usual, trying to still make a living around here.

John Salley: I haven't seen pimping like that. He's got Wrangler on everything. You sure you don't want a headband?

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: No kidding.

Chris Rose: Before we even talk racing, we know you are a huge football fan, in particular, the Washington Redskins. They were up facing Green Bay last weekend, and we saw Dale Earnhardt Jr. out there on Lambeau Field. What the heck does that feel like?

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: It was pretty awesome. I had a chance to go with Matt Kenseth to the game. We raced Saturday night so we had a Sunday off. He took me to the game with him. He's a big Green Bay fan. We got to meet Brett Favre, got to meet the coach for the Packers and got to hang out on the field before the game. I didn't know they have little huts for the players to use the bathroom in. I didn't know about that. On the sideline. Did y'all know that?

Chris Rose: You went to Lambeau Field and that's what you learned?

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Yeah. That was the biggest surprise to me. That and I thought the brat was going to put me down at about the third quarter, but I was still up. Pretty proud of myself. it was a lot of fun. We had a lot of fun. It was raining and everything. We were getting soaking wet. The 'Skins led for a while. The second half was pretty terrible, then I was ready to go with about two minutes left.

Charissa Thompson: You're excite about the bathroom thing, we like that. A thrill probably, meeting Brett Favre, was that your first time? What was that like?

Dale Earnhardt Jr.:: That was kind of like meeting God, in a way, because --

Charissa Thompson:: Wow.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.:: We opened this door, and this guy was leading us around one of the staff members, trainers, whatever. He opens the door and Brett's sitting in there by himself. He's sitting in the back by himself all in his whole gear, ready to go. It's about an hour or two before the game. He's watching game film by himself. I ran right in there. I was like, "What's up man, what are you doing, what's going on, why you doing that?"

Charissa Thompson:: Giving him a few pointers?

Dale Earnhardt Jr.:: I knew I was only going to have five minutes so I was asking all kinds of questions. He works with Wrangler, too. Actually, they are playing his commercials more than mine. I don't know, we kind of ribbed each other back and forth about that. But it was really cool to meet him. He's an icon in the sport, and you know, he's a big deal.

Chris Rose: Let's talk a little about your season, and it's been a tough one. It's been emotional because of the move you're making from Dale Earnhardt Incorporated over to Hendrick Motorsports, leaving the 8 car behind, driving the 88 next season. Be honest. How difficult was it for you mentally?

Dale Earnhardt Jr.:: Well, you know, it wasn't really that bad in the little pockets between press conferences, but the press conferences and the actual standing in front of the world or whoever was watching, that was the toughest part. To try to really tell my side of it, be genuine. I couldn't really be totally honest. You never can, you know, in front of a camera. But it was really hard, some of the press conferences, getting up there and really, because you were the man having to tell everybody, and you couldn't get anybody else to do that job for you. You had to do it yourself. So that got really hard a couple times. I was worried about the fans and the reaction my fans were going to have, but you find out no matter what you do, time and time again, they support you. No matter whether you're up, whether you're down, they got your back. They definitely helped me, you know, feel better about the decisions I made — and I know it's the best decision for me — but I was hoping that everybody else felt the same way. It's good that's the case.

Charissa Thompson:: You just mentioned how you can't be completely honest in front of a camera, but I will ask you an honest question here. How hard was it losing number 8?

Dale Earnhardt Jr.:: It was real hard. You know, I think that I will still, I don't think that will ever change. I don't think my mind will ever change on the fact that I think that that should have gone differently. I think that the way that was handled and what happened and what we have now should be different. I know everybody's got their own opinion. I feel great about Mark Martin and Aric Almirola driving the car next year, driving that number. They're two of my buddies. I'm comfortable with that. I'm OK with that, but I would love to have the number. You know, we are going to move forward with the 88. That's got a lot of history. My buddy, Dale Jarrett, one of my mentors, has been driving that number several years in his career so it has a lot of history that I like and that I will enjoy and I will enjoy being part of and adding to. But obviously, you know, you would like the prior arrangement to have worked out in your favor.

Chris Rose: Don't feel bad, though. Salley wore 22 for three of his four rings, changed to 16 with the lakers and didn't you see how he propelled them — not Shaq and Kobe — to that title?

John Salley: Hey, Dale, this is what you do, man. Just report the night before you leave, get spray paint, just start putting 88 on everything and if you can't get it done, I can get some people to come down there with cans, no charge.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: I have already been seeing a lot of the stuff at the racetrack. My fans are doing a good job of covering everything with 88, and hopefully, they keep it up. That's all we'll see at the racetrack next year.

Chris Rose: We have more coming your way with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Salley gets to share his racing experience with Little E, and we will see whether or not Dale would want John "Spider" Salley as a teammate. Also, why does he get to hang out with Jay-Z all the time?