"Breaker, breaker one-nine…how 'bout you westbound…what's it look like back your way?" Oh, sorry, I've been sitting in the rig for so long I guess I forgot where I was for a moment. As of Saturday morning, I officially logged the 42,897th mile in my logbook and you know what? I'm over it for a while! It sure is nice to be home.

It has been a great season and we are really happy with our No. 7 finish. After Pomona, Toni and I, along with Jamie, Cynthy, Melissa, and my newly adopted son Drew (Sciranko), headed to the Westin Resort in Palm Springs for the NHRA Awards Banquet. We decided to go a day early so Jamie and I could take in a game of golf and the rest of them could just kick back and relax. The weather was perfect – too bad my golf game wasn't – but hey, it was sure nice to spend some time with Jamie and not be worrying about how much clutch we were going to put in the car or what transmission ratio we needed to build. I kind of like being just the Dad and not the boss sometimes.

The awards banquet was your typical deal complete with a meal and two free drink tickets, but the ESPN videos were awesome. I guess my favorite part of the banquet (other than when I won the championship) was listening to John Force's acceptance speech and having the opportunity to spend time socializing with everyone whom we race with during the year without the stress of competition. It is often hard to recognize everyone without his or her uniforms and hats on. Anyway, we all had a great time and it was a nice way to end a very exciting racing season.

Most people left Tuesday to either fly or drive home but not us. Oh no…that would have been way too easy! Our daughter Melissa has been living in Los Angeles for the past two years and has decided to accept a very exciting marketing job with TPI, which is located in North Carolina. Of course all of her worldly possessions were located in her apartment and a storage unit in L.A. and somehow had to get her relocated back to the east coast.

What better way to get her things back than to pack them in the tractor trailer along with the racecar, Blazer, engines, golf cart, etc. Of course we had to first obtain a U-Haul, load all of her stuff, bring it all back to the racetrack and then strategically place everything in the rig. Now I know why I have an engineering degree. Believe it or not by 9 p.m. Tuesday, everything was loaded in the rig and Toni and I were ready to head east. Hold on, I almost forgot something - we had to bring Melissa's cat Emma with us.

So, with food bowls, litter boxes, and a very vocal upset cat we headed home. Unfortunately, the tractor isn't exactly equipped like a motorhome but it only took the first day for all of us to settle into a routine and our trip with Emma went smoothly. I am happy to report that Emma has been sleeping contently on Melissa's bed anxiously awaiting her arrival home.

All of the kids are going to be home Tuesday. Melissa will arrive from L.A. in the afternoon, Jon and his girlfriend Allison will be home this evening from Clemson, and Jamie and Cynthy are coming over. This will be a warm-up for Thanksgiving but I think Toni is planning on Italian for now. Jamie and Cynthy will be leaving tomorrow to visit Cynthy's family in New Hampshire for Thanksgiving so it will be nice to have everyone together for one night.

We are planning our traditional Thanksgiving feast and I am looking forward to having the kids, Toni's Dad and Evelyn, and my brother Jason along with Loren and Jay Jr. join us for one of my favorite holidays. What more could a guy ask for? My family, great food, lots of fun and, of course, some football thrown in -- it promises to be a great day. I love this time of year!

As most of you may have read on the NHRA website and on my current On The Run Column, I am once again honored to be able to return to Ramstein AFB in Germany to visit the American troops and Army/Air Force personnel. Along with Warren Johnson, Tommy Johnson, Cory McClenathan, and Melanie Troxel we will depart on the 26th and spend three days visiting military personnel. We will also spend a day with the wounded troops at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. Being able to visit these brave men and women will, once again, be the highlight of my year. I promise to share with you some great stories of our trip along with a lot of really awesome pictures.

I hope everyone has a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving. Be sure to check back for my update on our trip to Germany!