Slowly, but surely, TheDustin Daily is making its way back into your daily reading habits. NASCAR fans check out a look at a Top 10 Preview from Thunder.

So for the first time in my life, I'm a regular Listerine user (all past and present lady-friends altogether now "It's about time!"). The thing I can't figure out is on the back, it says to use about "4 teaspoons". Why can't they just put somethin like "half a cap" or "take a swig and swish"? Do people really bust out their measuring spoons to divvy up their Listerine?

Because BJ and Amber don't have a way of communicating this to the world, I figured I would use my position as a voice on the net to announce that Sawyer hiked his leg this morning when he peed. I can't say it's as big of a moment as it was when we finally got Dan to do it, but the moment does stand out nonetheless.

A lot of people ask me, "What do you get out of watching a bunch cars go around and round in a circle for four hours?". Well, when you put it like that it does sound a little crazy. But I'm not just watching cars go around and round in a circle. I'm watching crews pull off sub-13 second pit stops. I'm watching cars bob and weave (it's a game of inches) around each other at 150-200 mph. I'm waiting for the broadcast to cut to Jr.'s radio transmission when he says things like, "I can't hear you, you're breakin up" when his crew radios in a warning from NASCAR. And for "kicks", I like reading a driver's 800 word explanation of a pass that everyone else summed up as "Junior just having the best car."

There's something different about you, but I just can't put my finger on it ...

Well, I haven't been gone as long as JDawg, but I'm sure everyone missed me all the same. As an excuse for my extended absence, I spent a wondeful Valentine's Day weekend in Maryland with my honey (more details later - maybe) and then returned (a little behind schedule even) to an apartment full of school work and studying. It's the college life, and I have to admit, it's finally starting to get old. Maybe some of you work-a-holics can convince me that I should stay in college forever as originally planned.

A brand new season. Brand new fun. Read on.

This post was originally completed at 3:46pm Saturday, February 7th, but appears after that date to preserve the integrity of the event which it attempts to predict.

Well it's about time for NASCAR to be startin up again which means I've been hard at work redesigning and fixing up the fantasy racing league we started last year. I decided on a fresh look and mostly fresh scripts because we were changin the points system anyway and last year's stuff was ugly, inefficient and a little awkward to use.

Anyway, the draft "opens" tomorrow and I decided to take a break from coding and write up a little mock draft preview just because I thought there were some things that the five us who are participating might find borderline humorous. You can see how close I was with my predictions here.

thedustin.com's Ralle Cup Mock Draft

Legacy Drivers¹
Leche Racing - Mark Martin
Team Gilli: Island Racing - Kevin Harvick
Thunder Katz - Jeff Gordon
haveacookie.Racing - Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Freedom Racing - Ryan Newman

Round 1
1. Jimmie Johnson/Kurt Busch - Leche Racing
John surprised all of us, or at least me, by retaining Mark Martin and letting Jimmie, by most accounts his star of last year, go into the world of free agency. He does have the first pick of the draft, though, so it could all be about strategy. Still, there was enough surprise left in that to make me think he could totally shake up the draft and take Kurt first.

2. Tony Stewart - Team Gilli: Island Racing
There's no question Tony is one of the best drivers in the circuit and it would be foolish for TG: Island Racing to pass him up. Even after finishing in the Top 10 last year, Tony wasn't satisfied with his performance which makes him easily one of the early favorites going into '04.

3. Brian Vickers (Or the 2005 rights to Kyle Busch) - Thunder Katz
It seemed like the second half of the year last year all the guys over at Thunder Katz Racing could talk about was the crop of extremely young talent barrelling its way through the Nextel Cup circuit. Some might consider it a gamble to take a rookie so high in the draft, but combining Vickers' talent with Hendrick equipment can only mean one thing: quick success. I look for Thunder Katz Racing to provide the surprise of the draft with this pick.

4. Bobby Labonte - haveacookie.Racing
He's not flashy, he doesn't grab your attention but he wins races and consistently finishes high. This will be the most boring pick of the draft because there's nothing surprising about it and it's the only choice to make for this pick.

5. Kurt Busch - Freedom Racing
Assuming Leche Racing doesn't rock the top spot with Mr. Rubberhead, Freedom Racing will look to continue its dominance by picking one of the drivers that helped that team to a league high 15 Driver-Wins last season. Because of the genuine distaste for Kurt among many of the other teams in the league, Freedom Racing might be able to afford to let him drop to another round. But with the watered down talent pool this year, other teams might be forced to get over their personal grudges to help themselves to the championship, and with his penchant for winning races, Mr. Busch would be quite a steal in later rounds.

Round 2
6. Rusty Wallace - Leche Racing
With the first pick of the second round, Leche Racing should start the trend towards teams grabbing solid, dependable veterans while they still can. There will be plenty of young guys left in the next couple of rounds and Rusty Wallace leads a short list of veterans who can win anywhere. He hasn't won in a couple of years now, a monkey that's becoming more like King Kong with every passing race, but after a year of dominance from his teammate and increasing parity among the teams, he's got a lot of notes to work with and the equipment and support necessary to succeed in.

7. Michael Waltrip - Team Gilli: Island Racing
Never underestimate the TV-factor. Dan, in his America days, loved TV and there's no question Mikey has the best commercials in NASCAR. Some might be quick to point out Waltrip's nosedive towards the end of the season, but if used at the right time and at the right place (uhhuumm Daytona) ... Mikey can be an invaluable asset.

8. Matt Kenseth - Thunder Katz
As much as everyone talks about his single-victory championship, you can't argue with Matt's league leading 5 victories in '02 and his consistency in '03. If he puts together the best parts of those two seasons (namely the victories with the consistency), there could be another championship in Kenseth's future. Some may think his date with Lady Luck may be on its last leg, but couple Matt's poor qualifying record and high finishes with the Ralle Cup point system and you have the Fantasy Racing equivalent of Video Game Bo. Kenseth is a steal at No. 8 for Thunder Katz Racing.

9. Jamie McMurray - haveacookie.Racing
Still reeling over Jamie Mac's record breaking win during the '02 season when he subbed for Sterling Marlin (breaking Harvick's quickest to Victory Lane record), haveacookie.Racing's owner Dustin Riego can't deny the star potential of one of his top performers from last year. Though he never visited Victory Lane in '03, J. Mac won the Rookie Championship handily and served as the perfect complement to the Junior-Labonte 1-2 punch, filling in on the latter's weakest Sundays. He's still a bit of a gamble this early, but had a good enough season last year to be worth it.

10. Ricky Craven - Freedom Racing
How do you rebuild a championship team? By getting as many of the top-performers from the previous team as possible. Assuming Kenseth doesn't slip to this spot, Freedom Racing will bring back another familiar face in Ricky Craven. Craven is a proven winner and will now be running in superior equipment (don't tell that to Joe Gibbs Racing). He surprised a lot of people early last season, then faded quietly away. But look for Freedom Racing to bring him back anyway as a nice contrast to the loudmouth-beat 'em up style of Busch and Newman.

Round 3
11. Dale Jarrett - Leche Racing
"How about some pie?" How about some there's no way Jarrett could have two bad seasons in a row. It might be a little unexpected for anyone to take two old time veterans in a row, but with the proven young guns already gone, the combination of Rusty's winless streak and Jarrett's horrific 2003 make these two candidates for comeback of the year honors and a strong foundation for a solid team.

12. Robby Gordon - Team Gilli: Island Racing
Having drivers from the same race team can sometimes be risky because on any given Sunday, one of them is bound to blow an engine. But with Johnny Sauter the new "red headed step child" of this team (read: the 30 car's got last dibs on equipment), Robby may be able to repeat or better his 2003 success. Teams like Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, and DEI have had fairly good success putting two or more cars from the same stable in the Top 10 and RCR did it briefly last year. He's not the most likable of drivers, but with his support for Jimmy Spencer during the Spencer-Busch fiasco, he made himself almost bearable and he's virtually automatic at Infineon and Watkins Glen.

13. Scott Riggs - Thunder Katz
The theme for this year's Thunder Katz: Young Guns. After taking Vickers in the first round, and the solid Kenseth in the second round for stability, Thunder Katz takes another dip in the youth pool with hometown boy Scotty Riggs. Although Benson in the 10 didn't help Thunder Katz when they needed him last year, the Valvoline team will be rejuvenated by the 33 year old rookie, who was solid last year in the Busch Series, but ran out of juice for his run at the title.

14. Terry Labonte - haveacookie.Racing
A surprise Top 10 last year and a surprise pickup by haveacookie.Racing here at 14. This would be a huge leap for haveacookie.Racing to reach into the Hendrick stable, but with Terry's strong finish, including a victory at the final Labor Day Southern 500, picking up an accomplished veteran at this stage in the draft is a no brainer.

15. Ricky Rudd - Freedom Racing
Freedom Racing could easily flip flop this pick with his second round pick, though Craven's bangin victory last year at Darlington in the spring makes him a little bit more of a hot commodity than Rudd. Rudd was a championship contender less than 5 years ago and now he's trying to help get the Wood Brothers back to prominence. I'm predicting a victory this year for Rudd, which would help Freedom Racing's campaign for repeating last year's success.

Round 4
16. Elliott Sadler - Leche Racing
Sadler left a bad taste in the mouths of the guys at Leche Racing after a dismal season last year. But the Roush-Yates engine partnership should yield some pretty good equipment this year and Sadler's a talented driver. He had moderate success in Wood Brothers equipment, so with Yates power and a team that should gel more this year, Sadler should find his way back to Leche Racing, albeit with less than wide open arms.

17. Greg Biffle - Team Gilli: Island Racing
With two guys left on the board with a victory in 2003 (Nemechek is the other), Island Racing will go with the familiar face in Biffle. Biffle literally was the outcast on an all-star Roush team last year, but those fences appear to have been mended in the offseason. Like Sadler, Biffle is a talented "young" driver in awesome equipment. Last year's victory may have seemed like a bit of a fluke, but a win's a win and I expect Biffle will make it back to Victory Lane at least once this year.

18. Joe Nemechek - Thunder Katz
17 race winners last year. 16 returning. 1 left on the board. And now he's gone. Front Row Joe had a good enough season last year to not lose his ride, but the youth movement has arrived and it's big. But because of Nadeau's life threatening accident last year, the 01 Army car needed a replacement and fate could only allow the man who replaced Nadeau in the 25 replace him in the 01. At the writing of this preview, Nemechek had just turned in the fastest 1st practice speed for the Bud Shootout, which shows his equipment is as good or better than at least half of the 500 field. Joe's an experienced driver driving for an inspired team. They have all of the ingredients for a magical season.

19. Jeremy Mayfield - haveacookie.Racing
Mayfield had a disappointing 2003, but did well enough at the right time to secure a job for '04. After Bill's late season run in the 9 car, the 19 team will have a lot of good info to work with. Mayfield is still considered a young guy and has a lot of experience. With Bill gone, he's now the veteran on this team, and I expect him to find at least a piece of the success he had in Penske's 12 car.

20. Sterling Marlin - Freedom Racing
It's hard to imagine that the championship front-runner for most of the 2002 season could fall this low, but 2003 was a dismal follow-up to his previous run at the title. Still, some teams may be kicking themselves for letting another proven race-winner fall in the hands of Freedom Racing. Besides, Sterling ended 2003 with a lot to prove.

Round 5
21. Ward Burton (Leche Racing) - He's just so much fun to watch. Or listen to rather.
22. Kasey Kahne (Team Gilli: Island Racing) - Is having a name that's close to Casey Casem (sp?) a good enough reason to pick him?
23. Ken Schrader (Thunder Katz) - Full-time sponsorship goes a long way towards making a guy a viable pick.
24. Johnny Sauter (haveacookie.Racing) - Keep dreaming, Dustin. No way this guy's still available after some of the picks you just predicted. RCR equipment beats out humor (W. Burton), high profile jobs (Kahne in the 9), and experience just barely hangin on (Schrader) any day.
25. Jeff Green (Freedom Racing) - Because it's the only logical choice for a driver with that big of a chip on his shoulder.

Round 6
26. Casey Mears (Leche Racing) - Those Ganassi cars are fast. Well, at least in IRL they are.
27. Scott Wimmer (Team Gilli: Island Racing) - What do you mean Ward's not in the CAT car anymore?
28. Brendan Gaughan (Thunder Katz) - Only a guy who follows sports as thoroughly as the man behind the Thunder Katz would know this guy dominated the truck series and joins a team on the rise. Oh and the team's Penske engines can't hurt.
29. Kyle Petty (haveacookie.Racing) - Say it ain't so.
30. Kevin LePage (Freedom Racing) - He's gotta be better than Larry Foyt, right?

Round 7 (a.k.a. "The Part-Timers" Round)
31. Jimmy Spencer (Leche Racing) - You remember what happened at Pearl Harbor? No, but at Texas, Jimmy bombed his career.
32. Jeff Burton (Team Gilli: Island Racing) - Because I'm still upset about losing his brother and somebody's gotta give this guy some sponsorship.
33. Larry Foyt (Thunder Katz) - The team just isn't the same without him.
34. Ron Fellows (haveacookie.Racing) - Because hopefully DEI will snatch him up for the road courses again.
35. Bill Elliot (Freedom Racing) - The old man has to be good for something.

¹ Each team is allowed to designate one driver as their "legacy" driver which means they retain that driver for the upcoming season and agree to release all of their other drivers into the draft.

I finally write something praising Apple, and then News.com gives me this gem of an article. Actually, I guess it's not really Apple who bears the responsibility of such humor, but we'll go with guilty by association. And don't just read the headline, read the entire article cause it gets better and better. It makes copyright related lawsuits seem about as frivolous as hot coffee lawsuits. What a wonderful world. Err, pardon me. What a wonderous world. (I don't want to get sued).

[All silent pauses occurring during your reading of this post are Copyright Protected ?2004 Dustin Riego]

Take this for all that you can because you won't get much more of it. Two of my least favorite companies have joined up to offer what I consider one of the best promotions ever ... Pepsi and Apple's 100 Million Free Song Downloads.

Coke and PC fans, don't stop me, this is totally necessary, but I will try to keep it brief. The commercial is good (right down to the "actors" and background music), the idea is great, the timing is right, and it withstands the most important marketing test of all - it sells both products. If you're an iTunes user that drinks Coke, you can't pass up on the opportunity for a free download or two (1 in 3 - great odds, but that's a lot of Pepsi). If you own an MP3 player and drink Pepsi, well that's free money right there buddy.

The whole concept is just great. And while I don't think it will put a dent in illegal downloading, it definitely offers a new perspective for attacking the issue. Why not try and befriend your customer base rather than alienate them? Instead of prosecuting them, persuade them, convince them that you're not just after their money - that, at the risk of sounding crazy, you actually care about what they want.

Anyway, I just wanted to give them muchos kudos for what they're doing. It's not often I give props to "enemy" companies, but I figured this was worth it. Oh, and Jobs, I'm a little upset about the whole Pixar-Disney thing. I know you want your money and stuff, but come on, you can't tell me some of that dough isn't comin in solely because of the Disney name. And Pepsi Dudes, thanks for leaving NC, it gives me lots of ammunition when people try to tell me I'm not a true North Carlolinian because I drink Coke. It's nice to shoot back with the thousands of jobs you give people in Purchase, NY.

Oh, and even though I really like the ad campaign, I haven't bought any Pepsi, nor have I downloaded any songs ... off of iTunes that is.

Great game. Disappointing, but great game.

It's half-time at the Super Bowl and Janet just got up on stage, which is awesome. I'm not really sure what's up with the male dancers though. Oh goodness, now we've got the original "Bad Boy", Sean "P-Diddy, Puff Daddy, Biggie's Compadre" Combs. A perfect opportunity to reflect on the first half ...

Yes, I have been yelling at the TV, especially when New England's players were pushin Stephen Davis' head into the ground after he was down. Nobody messes with a former Washington Redskin and gets away with it in my house. I also proceeded to do my own touchdown dance after Carolina's first touchdown, and there was finger pointing.

So overall, it doesn't look like downstairs is havin a good evening, but it's the Super Bowl, I don't care if his kids have school tomorrow.

Well Janet's back, and I'm mostly just rambling so I'll - Rythm Nation??? Really? Interesting. I like that song, but I just thought she might do something a little more ... recent. Anyway, I'm done, hope you all enjoyed the game.