Last Wednesday I wasn't able to file my intended pre-Thanksgiving blog because we had to tend to some unexpected family business. But during that day, and then on Thursday and Friday as well, I did a lot of thinking about what I am thankful for here at the end of NASCAR's 61st season. And, despite the unusually high amount of griping from racers, race fans and even racing executives, my cup runneth over.
Those of you who follow me on Twitter ended up bombarded by my Turkey Day stream of consciousness as Wednesday's missed column found its way out -- 140 characters at a time. For those who don't Tweet, I now present that list of thankfulness in its entirety. For those who do, I give thanks for all of you who let me bang out my gratitude from sunup to sundown with gravy-slick fingers onto my Blackberry.
So, here now, is "NASCAR Stuff I Am Thankful For, 2009 Edition":
• Double file restarts.• The King.• Darlington, Martinsville and the rebirth of North Wilkesboro.• Standing in Turn 1 for the green flag at Bristol and yanking someone's earplugs out at the last second.• Martinsville hot dogs, Michigan grilled corn and Bojangle's at Charlotte.• Dover's Monster Bridge, Texas Motor Speedway condos and Phoenix's Rattlesnake Hill.• Sam Ard, Jack Ingram and Larry Pearson.• The Chrome Horn, everything being "a deal" and letting the rough side drag.• Cole Trickle, Ricky Bobby and Stroker Ace.• Russ Wheeler, Rowdy Burns and Jean Girard.• MRN's Barney Hall's "give a call to ..."• HANS, SAFER and the Joie of Seating.• That Bill Elliott, Terry Labonte and Mark Martin are still out there. Once they're gone, I'm officially old.• Fireball Roberts, Cannonball Baker and "The Cannonball Run", but not so much "The Cannonball Run II" (though, as I was reminded by several Tweeps, it was Frank Sinatra's final appearance on the silver screen).• The Firecracker 400, World 600 and Southern 500.• The boys back at the shop.• David Pearson's dashboard cigarette lighter.• That whatever spare paints the Petty family mixed in that bucket came out Petty Blue.• Junior Johnson's always-perfect head of Founding Fathers-looking gray hair.• Jimmie Johnson's four-peat. Some call it boring. I call it historic.• That big ol' shiny NASCAR Hall of Fame going up just down the road from my house.• Loose in, tight off, a half-round up, one pound down, got one up high, clear down low.• A.J., D.J., J.J., Little E, G.C. Spencer, L.G. DeWitt and William H.G. France.• B.P., D.W., R.C., Lone Star J.R., T.G. Shepherd and J.D. McDuffie.• The Pass in the Grass, The Lady in Black, The Man in Black and Humpy's Bumps.• The Tunnel Turn, Bus Stop Chicane, Double Dog Legs and the Daytona Superstretch.• Humpy, Spinny, Benny, Smokey, Lennie, Buzzie, Buddy, Buck, Chocolate and Suitcase. And finally ...• Five-hour post-Thanksgiving dinner family roundtable talks over microwaved leftovers. There's always laughs, tears and no one brings up Danica or Jeremy Mayfield.
