HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn't have to split allegiances as far as which driver he wants to win the NASCAR Cup title Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Earnhardt, whose Hendrick Motorsports teammates were knocked out of contention last week, wants his good friend Martin Truex Jr. to win.

Truex won two championships in what is now the Xfinity Series in 2004 and 2005 while driving for Chance 2 Motorsports, a team co-owned by Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt, Inc.

Brad Keselowski, another championship contender, previously drove for JR Motorsports and is going up against Truex, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick for the title. The best finisher among the four Sunday will be crowned champion.

"I'm Team Martin for this weekend, for sure," Earnhardt said Friday morning. "Me and Brad are great friends, and I'd love to see Brad do well, but with what Martin, just as a driver what he's been through, it would just be awesome to see him put his name on that trophy."

Truex, who won three total races and never more than one in a season his first 10 years, has had a career season in 2017 with seven wins. His longtime girlfriend, Sherry Pollex, is well known in the garage and is battling ovarian cancer.

"We all know what Sherry's dealt with and how difficult that's been on her and Martin and how dedicated he's been to her," Earnhardt said. "Martin's just a great guy with zero ego."

When he moved to North Carolina, Truex slept on Earnhardt's couch and was his roommate for a time before moving into an apartment on Earnhardt's property.

"He's impacted my life in a positive way with his character," Earnhardt said. "I don't know how you would put into words for what it would mean for him to win. ... It's bigger than words, I guess."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is pulling for Martin Truex Jr. to win his first Cup Series title. AP/Jim Cole

Voted the most popular driver in the series for 14 consecutive years, Earnhardt has two Daytona 500 victories among his 26 career Cup wins. He has had a disappointing 2017 and likely will finish 21st in the standings.

Earnhardt will be replaced by Alex Bowman next season and said Friday that he has no regrets about the decision, which he announced in April, that he would not seek a contract extension beyond his deal that ends Sunday.

"I was more thankful to be able to compete this year than I was to question whether I should go farther," said Earnhardt, who missed the second half of 2016 because of vision and balance issues caused by a concussion. "With everything we've been through with the concussion and trying to come back, the emotion was, 'Man, I'm so glad I get to run this last year.'

"It was always this was the last year [and] glad I get to run it. And when I started in Daytona, I didn't know whether I would finish it, feeling delicate, feeling compromised, knowing how easily that could happen again."

As far as his final Cup race, Earnhardt has about a dozen guests coming and nothing huge planned prerace. He has a video crew following him for a possible documentary. Other than that, he is trying to keep things as normal as possible.

"As far as I'm concerned, I'm good with coming in here and doing the things we always do on a race weekend," Earnhardt said. "I want to get it documented. ... I'd like to finish the race and finish in one piece, wherever that is.

"You want to do as well as you can, but no matter where we finish, just pull down pit road [after the race], stop the car and get out and see my guys and do all that. It would be a bit of a heartbreaker if we had any kind of issue that would take us out of the event."

Earnhardt will have to start at the rear of the field Sunday for an engine change made during practice Friday.