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Okay, name the song that was playin' in Groundhog Day each mornin' when the Bill Murray woke up.....

Deja-vu, dudes. Here it is July 1st, yet we're right back to the same Daytona day we had back in February. DJ's and Rickity Rudd's Fords start 1 & 2 again. Looks like another snoozer.

But don't let front row fool ya. It's a whole new race. Chevy's had a nose job and Pontiac just got a new derriere. Everyone get's a little more leeway with their suspensions. It's dark outside and the race is 100 miles shorter.....(Race Late. Less Filling......It's a Daytona Lite!) And while Jarrett and Rudd may look like the two big men to beat again tonight, trust me...Them punks are tiny...Phil.

Where are my manners?....We've gotten halfway through the season and I've not introduced everyone. Would you all please stand up when I call your name.

Mark "Doc" Oswald works for a TNN racing show and gets enough freebies to open a NASCAR Thunder store. T-shirts, hats, leather jackets, Petty Experience rides....And every Christmas he sends me a new Rusty key fob....I hesitate calling him a friend. Doc's been a Geoff Bodine fan since way back when Bodine used to win races.....Some of ya'll may not remember back that far. Geoff goes back to his little crash track and finishes 36th. Your Home Depot creep, oh...9th.

Mollie McGee is a producer at my station and spends the last half hour of each day takin' it out on me. She knows the words to every song ever compiled by K-Tel. And, with little thought for others, sings them. She's been a Danny Sullivan fan since back when he spun it and won it. And an AJ Foyt fan since he lost it and accosted. Rick Mast in the Foyteen car scores his first top 20 with a 19th.

Tony Gillespie is an old high school friend of mine. He was like a brother to me....Uh...That's all I can remember.

Dave Foster is from the "grate" state of Tennessee yet speaks English well enough to be a sportscaster for a competing station. And I watch him all the time. He can't chew gum, but throw him a fraction and he can cipher it into a batting average faster than any Texas Instrument. Been a Sterling Marlin fan since...Well, since there aren't many drivers from Tennessee. Sterling's restrictor reign is over....14th.

Ted Madden is another sportscaster for yet another competing station. And I watch him all the time. He's a big White Sox fan....He's the only White Sox fan. And plays the game like I did....when I was young....and asleep....and dreaming. I wrote Ted earlier this year and told him if he didn't pick a driver, or I'd pick someone lame for him....Like Jeff Gordon. He finally wrote me back, and picked Jeff Gordon. I think Ted's from Tennesee too. Gordon grabs a 7th.

Lori Moran is another high school friend. Actually, a high school crush. Which may be why she currently lives as far away from me as possible. She's a Rusty Wallace fan....She's a Dallas Cowboys fan.....Either way, I'm crushed. Rusty rides his Harley Car to a 8th.

Kim Cline is Lori's sister. And another schoolboy crush. She too moved far, far away, but threw in a restraining order for grins. She's married with child, but has offered to trade both for tickets to Bristol. And she's been a Mark Martin fan for so long she can't imagine rooting for anything other that the Valvoline #6 car. Uh, Kim....Martin just unveiled his 2001 Viagra #Sex car Friday.....In this race he'll get it up to around 4th

Jeff Forte has been a friend of mine since the party days....most of the 1980's. He was impulsive and immature and poor back in those days. Now, he's rich. And he's bought, bartered, or built from scratch every immaginable toy. I think he hit his mid life crisis at 24. He's been a Jeff Gordon fan since Wonder Boy's early days and today he's leaning towards Steve Park and Tony Stewart. Gordon 7th...Park 28th....Stewart 9th.

Stacy is Jeff's wife. I've known her since those same comatose 80's. She was a delicate little flower with a delightful outlook on all of humankind back then. Now she writes nasty little NASCAR notes back to me, calling Rusty names that embarrass even ME. And the last few notes were written in Portuguese, just to piss me off. She's been a Gordon fan since the first time he bumped Rusty and took the win. Gordon 7th.

Paul Blank, like me, picked the wrong career and directs all the newscasts that I'm not allowed to. He's single, grumpy, and can't go two years without buying something new and black to drive. He's been a Mark Martin fan since "all the other drivers are wusses." Mark was fast in the Friday's practice but just a little too slow to come in his normal 2nd for the race. He trails in 4th.

Gotta watch Ward in this one too. Not his best track, but I gotta hunch. Like that hunch back in February...When I said Michael Waltrip would win Daytona. Ward 5th...Michael 18th.

And Earnhardt wins the whole thing.

Oh C'mon, Tony. I didn't really forget ya. And after 20 years we're both, Rusty fans.... You're the Sonny to my Cher. I've got you, Babe!

Okay, trivia question: Name the movie that used ..that......song....(?)

(Didn't we do this already?)