Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR' s most popular driver, is racing for the Guard!

Q: What does America mean to you, and what makes it great?

A: "I like having the freedom and the choices that we have [as Americans]," he said. "That's what makes our country great! We are given the opportunity every day to live how we want to live." --Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Talk about your winning teams. Hendrick Motorsports has named the Army National Guard as official sponsor of Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series 2008 season.

"I'm excited about our sponsorship… because [they've been] inside our organization for a long…time," said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, about the guard and another sponsor. "It's always better when you're dealing with people who you've been with and enjoyed working with and have been good to your company. To have an opportunity to partner up with a guy like Dale Earnhardt Jr., it's going to be a dream come true."

Earnhardt Jr.'s new car number for 2008 will be 88, and at a recent press conference, Earnhardt Jr. and Hendrick also unveiled the 2008 paint scheme for the car. "I hope [the fans will] really enjoy what we're going to do. We've been having a lot of fun with design and with the approach, and sort of forming what our identity is going to be on the racetrack and off the racetrack." said Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt Jr. left Dale Earnhardt Inc., the company founded by his father, in early 2007 and signed a five-year contract with Hendrick Motorsports in June.