Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from all of us here at Yahoo! Sports and The Marbles! Hope it's a safe and happy one. We're taking Thursday off, but we'll be back on starting Friday. (And if you're looking for a little something to read from me over the holidays, why not click here?)

Image from teh alwayz funneh LOLNASCAR. 

It's Thanksgiving, and we're thankful for many things around here -- turkey-induced naps, weekday football, and intelligent fellow bloggers. Biting off our buddy 'Duk's post over at Big League Stew, we've created a space for you to offer up what you're thankful for in NASCAR. Tailgates? The smell of oil in the morning? Catastrophic wrecks where everyone walks away? Whatever you're thankful for, here's your chance to let the world know.

Here's how this works. You can comment in the comment box below, though that's moderated and your post won't appear instantly. Or you can go through Twitter and post your thanks with the hashtag #marblesthanks, and they'll show up below. 

Have a happy and safe holiday, and we'll see you right back here soon!

You know how you knew that Homestead was an important race? Both Sprint Cup Smiley Girls were there. Not just the one, but the two! Beat still, my heart.

Despite their presence, which smacked of unbridled excitement and general eminence (bof'em, for crying out loud!), it was déjà vu all over again.

Yes, as prognosticated by many in the sport, and as with roughly 30 other races this year, Scott Speed totally nailed that first Lucky Dog of the race. It's not often that you get to see history - Speed started second - like that. I feel privileged to have witnessed it.

Actually, the race was entertaining, despite the simple truth that it was over before it began (though Dr. Punch sure tried his finest to convince us otherwise). I rather enjoyed the accordion rear-ender wreck on pit road. That was a sure sign that the driver's were already on break.

My buddy Chad did this one time, wrecking six cars in front of him, totaling his completely boss Chevrolet Citation. Chad is the same guy who once got pulled over for a DUI when he wasn't drunk. Chad worked in a coal mine on the graveyard shift, and on this particular morning, he forgot a change of clothes, fell asleep at the wheel on his way home (hence the stop), and had to perform his DUI tests in his boxers with carbon soot all over his face. The best part was that his mom, who was on her way to work, drove by as he was heel-toeing the line. (Hey, what's my son doing pulled over in his underwear with blackface on?)

So, yeah, that wreck was probably more entertaining for me than you.

Anyway, JPM and Stewart also put on a good show. JPM proved, without a shadow of a doubt, that he is an idiot. I'd rather be responsible for collecting Jeremy Mayfield's next urine test than be on Stewart's bad side. He owned a monkey once for God's sake. You know who owns monkeys? Crazy people, that's who. And crazy always trumps idiot. How do you think Obama got elected?

And Gordo? Fastest Pit Crew of the Year! Now that was fulfilling, you know, as a Gordon fan. And by fulfilling I mean that it made me want to throw something heavy, preferably with a large glass component, ideally with a cathode ray tube, off of a small roof onto large pavement (timeouts just aren't doing it for me anymore). It made me want to choke Letarte (which would require both a ladder and a belt, but I might be able to pull it off with the proper guise).

The fastest pit crew of the year? What? Was it based on a degree of difficulty scale? Because yeah, they did a great job if you factor in the fact that they had to perform a spring rubber and three wedge adjustments on every stop this year.

But either way, suck on that JJ. Call me when you have four Cup trophies AND a FPCY on the mantel, then we'll talk about the greatest of all time. Umkay?

Of course, despite his loss in the FPCY race, JJ deserves loads of credit. If there was ever any doubt that he is a tremendously skilled driver, he squelched it with his post-Cup victory lane burnout. Let's reset the scene: national television, victory lane after a historical fourth consecutive Cup, fans lining both sides of the lane, a flag in his left hand. So, low stakes. And what does he do? He gooses it all the way down the lane, smoking and spinning the tires. Carl Edwards needed a fence to stay off the fans. JJ did it one handed.

Finally, I cannot forget my neighbors, as they, too, always make for an entertaining race. My neighbors, you see, have "the dish." We live in the boonies, and my wife and I don't have a satellite, and so my neighbors kindly record every race and allow us to crash their living room weekly. For this reason, and many more, I love them.

But the real beauty of our neighborhood is that you'll never know what you'll get. Typically it's me chugging Budweiser while spitting incoherent invective Letarte's way. Sometimes it's Steve swilling Black Velvet and busting on Fords. And sometimes it's Pam downing red wine and wondering aloud why people back into parking spaces.

But this weekend, and fitting for fall and the season's finale, it was the constant drone of an industrial grinder. It was meat processing time, and in the background of this year's race, with a light snow falling outside and fire crackling in the fireplace, Bambi had lost to the man and was, literally, mincemeat.

For the competition, this was a fitting end to JJ's fourth straight title.

Sure, it's Turkey Time, but there's still business to be done -- ugly business, in some cases. The deadline to file claims with the former, now bankrupt, General Motors is Monday, Nov. 30, and several NASCAR-related entities are looking to get some money out of whatever's left of the onetime giant.

The claims range from the relatively minor (Auto Club Speedway is seeking $45,500 for a hospitality contract) to the significant (Dale Earnhardt Inc. is seeking $3.3 million for an unspecified contract). Other claimants include Daytona International Speedway ($651,000) and JR Motorsports ($198,000). 

It's another reminder that the rough times are not yet done. While there's plenty of griping to be done about NASCAR's Chase and so on, there are much more important issues surrounding this sport that remain uncertain and unresolved.

Two teams, two tracks file claims with former General Motors [Scene Daily]

As the decade of the 2000s draws to a close, we're looking back at the greatest NASCAR moments, events and stories of the last 10 years. We begin with the most successful drivers of the decade -- bearing in mind, we're ranking them on what they've done this decade, not before that. And yes, you already know who's #1.

1. Jimmie Johnson: Like you expected anything different. Four championships, 47 wins and 180 top-10 finishes over just nine years. He's staked out one of the most dominant stretches of success in NASCAR history ... and the scary thing is, he may be in the middle of it, not at the end.

2. Tony Stewart: Were it not for Johnson, Stewart would be the runaway driver of the decade. With two championships, 34 wins and 209 top-10s, Stewart was already money, but making the jump to team ownership and staying strong as ever? Unbelievable.

3. Jeff Gordon: The difference between Stewart and Gordon is razor-thin on this list, but Stewart gets the nod because of his two championships. In the 2000s, Gordon has only one. But he's also finished in the top 10 for nine of the decade's 10 years, along the way picking up 33 wins and 217 top-10 finishes over 358 races. That'll work.

4. Kurt Busch: He's pinballed between excellence and mediocrity, but when he's been good, he's been very, very good -- one Sprint Cup championship, four top-ten seasonal finishes, 20 wins, 136 top-10s. Imagine how good he'd be if he could make friends. 

5. Kyle Busch: The highest-ranked non-Sprint Cup champion on this list, he's got 62 wins across all three major series. He's said his goal is to get 200 wins over all three, and considering the fact that he's 24, would you bet against it happening? Once he calms down and races consistently, he'll be one of the all-timers. 

6. Bobby Labonte: He led off the decade with a championship, which is a nice way to start but unfortunately means there's only one way to go. Still, he's notched 8 wins and 101 top 10s over the decade, and if he had been in better equipment over the last couple years, that total would be much higher.

7. Matt Kenseth: The 2003 Sprint Cup champion, though it's not his fault he won the Cup while winning only a single race. In the decade, he's had 18 wins and 172 top-10s over 358 races.

8. Mark Martin: Had he not flirted with retirement toward the middle part of the decade, he'd be much higher on this list. But six top-10 seasonal finishes, including two second-places, combined with nine wins and 159 top-10s put him solidly in the conversation for the top drivers of the 2000s

9. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 18 wins and 141 top-10s over 358 races, and for a time he was right there in the mix for a championship, ranking in the top 10 four times from 2001-2006. He's fallen off the pace just a wee bit.

10. Carl Edwards: In 193 races, he's got 16 wins, 61 top-5s and 99 top-10s. He had a severe dropoff this year, but he's one of the best in the sport and should be very close to the top on the list of the 2010s' best.

All right, your turn. Who else belongs on this list? Rusty Wallace, Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle just missed the cut; do they belong? Who's too high or too low? Have your say!

Okay, folks, you've got to bring some game to this one. Yogi Berra and Jimmie Johnson. Visit this site (or many others) for suggestions on appropriae Yogi-isms.

And remember, if people don't want to come to NASCAR races, nobody's going to stop 'em.

After the jump, Kyle Busch is feeling left out.

Read More »

Don't go bailing on NASCAR just yet, and don't go digging into the turkey, either. We've got one more chat before the holiday. Join us on Wednesday at 1 p.m. Eastern for a little NASCAR yappin' before Thanksgiving. We'll supply the turkey; you bring a side to share. See you here!

Bringing you the best in NASCAR news and opinion. Get your day rolling right ... or left, whichever. 

• From the Department of the Obvious (but still true): NASCAR needs Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch to step it up in 2010. [Scene Daily]

• Bad news: more job cuts are coming in NASCAR. [Fox Sports]

• More news to get your blood a-boiling in the offseason: will Volkswagen enter NASCAR? [Examiner]

• Kyle Busch's Nationwide title was cemented when Carl Edwards crashed at Michigan in August. [NASCAR.com]

• The worst Chaser in history? That'd be, um, Brian Vickers. Ouch. [All Left Turns]

• Git'r done! Larry the Cable Guy will be on BAM Racing's No. 49 in the 2010 Daytona 500. No, I can't imagine we'll be running any pictures of that whatsoever. [NASCAR.com via Yahoo! Sports]

Got a link/tip? Hit us up at jay.busbee@yahoo.com and follow us on Twitter. 

Lest we forget, Jimmie Johnson wasn't the only winner on Sunday night. Denny Hamlin ran away with the Ford 400, and if he hadn't had a couple misfires earlier in the Chase, this could've been a lot more interesting from a championship standpoint. So before we continue with the JJ love, let's spare a thought for Denny Hamlin:

Could Denny Hamlin take over the Memorial Carl Edwards "Dude Who's Going To Unseat Jimmie" role for 2010? We shall see, friends, we shall see...

In news that surprised exactly no one, Joey Logano has taken the Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year award, knocking off Max Papis and Scott Speed. Stiff competition there, huh?

Since rookies tend to have about as much success in NASCAR as turkeys on Thanksgiving, the rookie of the year award isn't quite the big deal it is in some other sports. Even so, the award is a harbinger of future success; in the last ten years, only two winners -- Regan Smith last year and Jamie McMurray in 2003 -- have not made the Chase at one point. Winners have included Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Juan Pablo Montoya and Denny Hamlin. (Not winners: Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr.)

Logano had a strong rookie season, notching one win  -- a rain-shortened one, but still -- along with three top-5s, seven top-10s and about 250,000 jokes about shaving and voice-cracking, half of which were made right here. He finished the year in 20th place, ahead of Casey Mears, McMurray, Earnhardt and many others.

Congratulations, Joey! And to honor your win, we promise not to make any more "little kid" jokes. Go ahead, have a chocolate milk to celebrate! (Whoops.)