2003 Fantasy Games are under way!

The Daytona 500 is a month away, and you have all that time to set your fantasy teams for 2003.

Fantasy Games  Play Fantasy Racing!

NASCAR.com has made a great fantasy offering even better for 2003. The site is again offering fans such great games as NASCAR Fantasy Cap Challenge, Ultimate NASCAR Fantasy League, Streak to the Finish, and Racer's Edge providing the fans with the most up-to-date technology and the best NASCAR fantasy gaming experience available.

Here is a breakdown of the games:

NASCAR Fantasy Cap Challenge

Subscribers to this game try to best manage a team of six drivers, while staying under a salary cap. Participants will be able to make changes to his/her roster of drivers each week in order to maximize the salary cap.

The better the drivers perform on the tracks the greater the value of a participant's salary cap portfolio.

Gary Henning, an auto body technician, was the second-place winner in the game in 2002 and hopes to attend the 2003 Daytona 500 as part of his prize. Henning said that extensive research paid off.

"I would print out the qualifying and write the rest of the practice sessions next to the drivers names, then I would compare the numbers and just hope that they would not get in an accident or blow a motor," Henning said.

Ultimate NASCAR Fantasy League

NASCAR.com also offers fans a traditional fantasy league, featuring head to head match-ups between six league participants. The competition is broken up into six teams per league with four drivers per roster.

Each team will have three "starting" drivers with one reserve driver. Participants will be able to select drivers through an auction type format.

Streak to the Finish

Streak to the Finish returns this season as participants try and predict a driver that will finish in the top 10 for that weekend's race. Grand Prizes will be awarded to the eligible participant who correctly predicts at least one driver who finishes in the top 10 each week for the most consecutive weeks, and the eligible participant who collects the highest number of points based on their cumulative streaks.

Each Grand Prize winner will receive two tickets to the 2004 Winston Cup event of his or her choice. Choosing a driver is as easy as selecting a name and pressing, "submit".

Shelley Maxwell was the overall winner in 2002. The Michigan resident's streak ran an astounding 16 weeks -- nearly half the season. Maxwell said she wants to use her prize to see a night race in 2003.

Actually, Maxwell said her streak could have been even longer.

"I had picked Jeff Burton (at Kansas) and he was running third with 42 laps remaining, I believe," she said. "When he left pit road he was apologizing to his crew for revving his engine too high during his stop. I dare say I was quite depressed."

Racer's Edge

Fans will also have access to a subscription service called Racer's Edge. This section will provide fantasy participants with fantasy news, notes, and live timing and scoring for their personal fantasy team.

In addition, members will have access to a drafting cheat sheet, which includes driver statistics and commentary, giving them that racer's edge.