Dale Earnhardt Jr. 'defends' his title after winning in 2003  Friday the 13th will be the start of a "lucky" season for one NASCAR Nextel Cup driver - not on the track, but online as the 2004 Grands!(R) Biscuits NMPA NASCAR Most Popular Driver Award officially opens at www.mostpopulardriver.com.

Once again this year, racing fans can log onto the site and vote for their favorite driver. More than 40 eligible driver names are listed, with bios and team information. At the end of the season, the driver with the most fan votes will be deemed most popular. Since Pillsbury(R) Grands! Biscuits began sponsorship of the award for the 2002 season, fans have cast more than 6.3 million votes in one of NASCAR's oldest and most coveted awards.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the 2003 award, taking a majority of the 3 million votes cast last year at www.mostpopulardriver.com.

"This award is all about the fans, and we're proud to partner with Grands! Biscuits to bring the voting news to fans nationwide," said Kenny Bruce, president of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), which administers the award on behalf of NASCAR.

"The fans are obviously excited about voting for their favorite driver - they've cast nearly four times as many votes during the past two years than in all of the other years combined since the award was first presented in 1956," noted Annie Zipfel, Marketing Manager for Grands! Biscuits at General Mills. "We're looking forward to supporting that fan excitement throughout the racing season by posting voting updates, recipes and special offers on www.mostpopulardriver.com."

The Web site, www.mostpopulardriver.com, is available for Internet voting at 11:59 a.m. CST on Friday, Feb. 13, 2004. Voting will continue through 11:59 a.m. CST on Monday, Nov. 22. Additional voting guidelines are accessible on the Web site.

The official Grands! Biscuits NMPA NASCAR Most Popular Driver of the Year Award trophy will be presented to the winning driver during the year-end NASCAR awards festivities, traditionally held in early December.

The Most Popular Driver Award dates back to 1956. It began as a simple poll of the drivers and later grew to incorporate all NASCAR members. Today, it's a prestigious award voted on by racing fans nationwide. Through the years, voters' choices have ranged from the obvious to the surprising. Bill Elliott's 16 most popular wins tops all drivers. He is followed by Richard Petty, who has won nine times. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s win in 2003 made him and his father, the late Dale Earnhardt, the only father-son combination to have won the award. Other past winners have included such notables as Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip.

Pillsbury Grands! Biscuits are part of the General Mills, Inc., portfolio of brands. The Pillsbury brand provides consumer-pleasing refrigerated and frozen baked goods and frozen breakfast products.