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There's plenty to be thankful for on this national day of thanks, especially in the fast-paced world of motorsports.

First, let's give thanks for the fact there was not one fatality this year in any of the major disciplines competing in the United States. And we're also thankful Felipe Massa survived after being hit on the head by a loose suspension spring during the Formula One's Hungarian Grand Prix.

That accident came six days after Henry Surtees, the teenage son of legendary racer John, died as a result of being hit by a detached wheel of a car in the field in a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch, England.

We're also most thankful the region's short tracks - Orange Show Speedway, Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, Perris Auto Speedway and Beyond Willow Springs - survived the year and will resume racing in 2010.

Let's give the folks who saved the season at Willow Springs special acknowledgment. The season at the desert short track was finished until the racers stepped in to keep their sport going, all through community and racer contributions.

The same goes to Rick McCray, who dug into his own pocket to keep the gates open at OSS in San Bernardino. McCray took a big gamble on a facility he grew up at, and it's paying dividends.

It's not easy operating a short track on Saturday nights, not when the stiffest competition comes from within - Saturday- night NASCAR Sprint Cup races are great for ratings, but

don't do much for attendance elsewhere in the country.

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For years, if not decades, the country's racing season ended with Thanksgiving's "Turkey Night Grand Prix" at Ascot Speedway under the direction and leadership of famed promoter J.C. Agajanian.

Both Ascot and the elder Agajanian are gone, but "Turkey Night" remains, and the 69th edition is set for tonight at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. J.C.'s sons are the promoters, which has aided in the transition.

If one wonders whether the tradition is strong after all these years, there was a large group of motor homes that spent the week at the speedway's RV area.

Their occupants will see more than 100 entries competing in various divisions in more than 200 laps at the half-mile oval. Tonight's feature is the 98-lap Midget race that honors Agajanian, with whom the 98 was synonymous with his entries at the Indianapolis 500 that included winners Troy Ruttman (1952) and Parnelli Jones (1963).

Leading the field in the feature will be former "Turkey Night" champion Jason Leffler of Long Beach, who just completed a very successful NASCAR Nationwide Series campaign. Also in the field will be IRL and Indy 500 veteran Davey Hamilton, as well as defending champion Bobby Santos III of Franklin, Mass.

The remaining classes will include the USAC Mopar National and Western Midget series, the USAC Western Sprint Car Series and the USAC California Pavement Ford Focus Series, which will run on the third-mile oval.

Brad Kuhn of Avon, Ind., has a 40-point lead in the Mopar Midget National Championship standings over Brad Sweet of Alpine, and a 53-point margin over Darren Hagen of Riverside.

In the Western Midget standings, Garrett Hansen of Manhattan Beach leads the standings and is gunning for his first USAC Championship.

Tanner Swanson of Kingsburg tops the Western Sprint Car Series standings and is seeking his second USAC Series championship in a 40-lap race.

Nik Romano, a 19-year-old rookie from Atherton, will be seeking his first California Pavement Ford Focus Midget championship in the "Hoosier Tire 40" on Toyota Speedway's third-mile oval.

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What drives a champion? For Chad Knaus, Jimmie Johnson's NASCAR Sprint Cup crew chief, and Robert Hight, the NHRA Funny Car champion, it's next year.

At the postrace news conference an hour after the checkered flag fell at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, Knaus had already put the 2009 season behind him.

"I just got the gut-wrenching feeling that 2010 is coming soon (84 days away)," Knaus said, perhaps jokingly. "It just hit me. So, wow.

"But no, I'm really excited. Man, what a fantastic job by this team this year. I can't say enough about the way that the guys worked."

Knaus also set the tone for next season.

"I think that with Lowe's and Hendrick Motorsports behind us, I think we can go into the next few years comfortable and aggressive and be able to get after it. I think we've got some good stuff coming in the future. I'm really, really excited about it. Our team is stronger than it's ever been."

An hour after winning his title, Hight had to confess a similar feeling to owner John Force.

"When Robert locked up the championship, he was very emotional; I never saw that side of Robert," Force said. "I never saw him cry. I thought, `What the hell is wrong with him?' I thought somebody said something. I was ready to fight, but it was just the emotion.

"Then an hour later, he said, `I've got a gut ache, John. I don't understand it. I should be all happy.' And I said, `Well, why? What are you thinking about?' He said, `I just won and I'm already thinking about next year.'

"I said, `Well, Robert, you've got it right, because if you want to think about now and what you've accomplished, do that. But your brain has to go to next year.' The shark always has to swim, and that ain't something you can teach somebody."

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Perris Auto Speedway closes the 2009 season Saturday with the Glenn Howard Memorial for the USAC/CRA Sprint Cars. Mix in the $30,000 Glenn Howard Challenge, and the race has been a magnet for Midwestern-based drivers such as Damion Gardner, Dave Darland, Bryan Clauson, Nic Faas and Cole Carter.

If the polesitter for the 30-lap main event accepts the challenge, he'll start at the rear of the field. Should he then win, he'll take home the $30,000 bonus.

Only two drivers, Gardner and Rip Williams, have ever achieved that feat and both will be in the field Saturday night.

Temecula's Mike Spencer, an engineering grad from Cal Poly Pomona, has already clinched the 2009 USAC/CRA championship, his second straight title.

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Rick Hendrick, who put together the organization that produced the top three finishers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings, has also put family above all else.

Rather than be on hand as Jimmie Johnson won an unprecedented fourth consecutive Cup championship Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Hendrick was in Charlotte, N.C., tending to niece Alesha Gainey as she underwent a liver transplant.

"I'm really close to her," Hendrick said this week in a teleconference call. "She lost her dad (John Hendrick, Rick's brother) and her two sisters (twins Kimberly and Jennifer) in the (2004 plane) crash.

"It was never a doubt in my mind where I needed to be and where I wanted to be. I couldn't have enjoyed the race or the celebration. I needed to be there with my family."