In the Field: Elliott Sadler (cont'd)

So as a friend of his, I'm very happy for him.

I could tell during the press conference that a load had been lifted off his shoulders and it was hard for him to even fight back the smile he had.

I know he's happy about working with Rick Hendrick, and I've even heard him make the comment that Rick is not even like a boss to him -- he's more like a friend.

They've known each other for a long time, since Dale was a teenager, so I think that's very comfortable for him, being a racecar driver and driving for a guy like that.

That counts big time. I was able to talk to Junior about this a couple of weeks ago, at his house. He talked so highly of Hendrick, as a friend -- not that he'd get a chance to drive for him as a boss -- but that he'd been a big friend of his daddy and his family.

Rick is a person that not only Dale Jr., but other people in this garage -- and I'm one of them -- have called him for advice.

We didn't call to ask him to drive his cars, but to say, "Hey, I might have this opportunity, what do you think of it?" He is just that type of person, an amazing man who's so down to earth and so fair to everybody and who understands where this sport has been and where it's going.

He would love to give you free advice any time and he's just a guy you can trust. He looks out for you genuinely -- not just looking out for himself.

So I think Dale Jr. is very comfortable to go drive for him and I feel they've got everything straight with a handshake.

Rick's a man you can do that with. Some people in this sport, you better get something in writing; and there are some people you can do it with a handshake and the rest of it will take care of itself -- and Rick is one of those people.

And that's why Junior felt he was comfortable to go over there.

I think it's big news for our sport, to put the two biggest names: Earnhardt and Gordon, on the same team.

I think it's going to be a good relationship for them because they're both nice guys, they both already like each other; and I think it's just going to make both of them better, because they're both going to try to out-run each other every week.

They'll both have the same equipment, so it should make for some great racing, for the fans and all of us.

They're definitely going to be the powerhouse team for a long, long time, I think -- at least as long as both of them continue racing full-time.

I think they're definitely going to make other teams try to raise their level of play to be competitive each and every week.

I'll tell you something else, and this comes from someone who's had to dodge a beer can shower or two that came out of a Gordon and Earnhardt battle on the racetrack.

I hope they'll be able to show that you can be friends and still be good competitors. I hope maybe the fans will see some of that.

But Earnhardt said it himself in his press conference. The line is still going to be drawn in the sand and he's still going to want to out-run Jeff every week.

He wants his fans to be able to have bragging right on Gordon's fans, and vice versa for Jeff; so I still think they can work under the same umbrella and still try to out-run each other every week -- just like Jeff and Jimmie [Johnson] do now.

But we'll see. We do know they are great friends -- just like Jeff and Dale Sr. were. They were even business partners, but they still let racing be racing -- and that's what racers are going to do.

Racers are going to race on the racetrack, and they're going to race each other hard and try to beat each other -- we all are, because that's what we do.

I think some fans are going to be OK with it and some fans are going to be very upset about it. But fans need to understand as a kid, growing up in this sport, all you're asking for is an opportunity to win championships and that's all Dale Jr. wants.

He's gone where he feels he has the best opportunity to do that, and you can't hate somebody for that.

Elliott Sadler, now in his ninth full season in the Cup Series, shares weekly with NASCAR.COM readers life on the road through staff writer Dave Rodman.