You will get a sentimental feeling when you hear again of some of the heartwarming and . . . well . . . nice moments of 2014.

And while it might not sound proper to throw rocks around the Christmas tree, well, some reckless boys definitely made the Naughty List.

Find out if you or your favorite drag-racing personality made one of the lists.

Later we'll have some pumpkin pie and we'll do some caroling . . .

VOICES SINGING, 'LET'S BE JOLLY' . . . AND A LITTLE ROCK-THROWIN' AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE

You will get a sentimental feeling when you hear again of some of the heartwarming and . . . well . . . nice moments of 2014.

And while it might not sound proper to throw rocks around the Christmas tree, well, some reckless boys definitely made the Naughty List.

Find out if you or your favorite drag-racing personality made one of the lists.

Later we'll have some pumpkin pie and we'll do some caroling . . .

NICE

Erica Enders-Stevens, the Pro Stock champion, for her perseverance, her Christian witness, and her part in giving the fans some of the most thrilling title chases in NHRA history. She gets an extra candy cane in her stocking for her role as new board member for Serving Orphans Worldwide.

Rickie Jones, for giving up his Pro Stock seat, especially after his breakthrough victory in 2013 at The Finals, so that Erica Enders-Stevens could pursue her championship – then joining his father in sharing tuning duties for the historic title run.

Pro Stock's Jason Line and Funny Car's John Force for displaying true sportsmanship after finishing second overall in their Mello Yello Drag Racing Series classes, especially after contributing to some of the most intense championship battles the sport ever has seen.

Santo Rapisarda, for giving hard-working Dom Lagana the chance to drive in his first U.S. Nationals.Line said, "Of course we're disappointed. The Summit Racing team worked very hard, and we almost had what would have been the seventh championship for KB Racing. But wow, what a way to end the day. To race for the championship in the last round of the last race of the year was really something big that brought a lot of attention to Pro Stock. I would say I'm proud to be part of that, for sure. All in all, it was a super-cool day for Pro Stock and anyone that's a fan of good racing. Congratulations to the whole Elite team and Erica – they had a great car all year long. Of course, I would have liked to win, but it'll just make us work harder over the winter. I don't want to feel this way at this time next year, but it's all good. That's what keeps you going. It's part of competition."

Force was re-energized, even though Matt Hagan got the better of him on the track in both the championship war and the final-round skirmish. Even though crew chief Jimmy Prock parted ways with John Force Racing with two events left on the schedule and even though Force knew most of his crew members would follow suit (which they did after the final race, along with mainstay John Medlen), Force said, "They are the best. They pulled together and did their jobs. It was still the Prock Rocket, with John Medlen and Mike Neff leading the charge together. I am really proud of everybody. After St. Louis and Reading and losing a dear friend and crew chief, Jimmy Prock, we rallied really well." And he gave kudos to Hagan: "Hagan and [crew chief] Dickie Venables did their jobs. That’s a good race team. They have a long ways to go to catch us at 16 championships, but that kid is going to try."

Doug Stringer for taking that plunge into Top Fuel team ownership and allowing driver Clay Millican to continue to race fulltime after Dexter Tuttle decided he would field his dragster on a part-time basis in 2015. Kudos to Stringer also for selecting popular Dave Grubnic as crew chief. An extra sugar cookie goes to Tuttle for his resources and to Parts Plus for its financial boost in helping Millican race in 2014 and pursue a first NHRA Wally trophy to add to his six Top Fuel series championships in the IHRA.

Top Fuel owner-driver Bob Vandergriff, for holding no grudges against former protégé JR Todd, although Todd readily bolted to Kalitta Motorsports when the opportunity arose in March. Vandergriff was gracious when Todd defeated him in his final race of his 19-year driving career. After his first-round elimination in the first round of the Auto Club Finals at Pomona, Vandergriff said, "I'm not a person who worries about what happened in the past. I think a lot of that kid who beat me. If anybody's going to beat me, I'd just as soon it was him." Back in May, Vandergriff also took a stand for safety on the racetrack, even though it cost him $20,000 in fines. But he had the courage of his convictions.

​Doug Kalitta, for accepting with grace and the proper perspective the disappointing results at the end of the season by saying "It's not life or death. It's disappointing." Kalitta led the Top Fuel class in final-rounds appearances (nine), No. 1 qualifying positons (six), qualifying bonus points earned (94), number of times setting low elapsed time of the meet (eight), and number of times recording top speed of the weekend (10). He was the points leader virtually all season but during the Countdown spiraled down to fifth in the final standings. Kalitta this year also ran two of the quickest 10 elapsed times ever.

Adam Arana, for enlisting in the U.S. Coast Guard, when he could have remained in a comfortable position, racing the ProtectTheHarvest.com / Lucas Oil Buell in Pro Stock Motorcycle competition along with dad Hector and brother "Little Hector." Adam Arana will start his service Jan. 6, entering boot camp at Cape May, N.J. "This is something I've wanted to do before I even graduated [from] high school," Arana, 23, said. "I'm so glad I had the opportunity to race. If it wasn't for Forrest and Charlotte Lucas [his bosses at the Lucas Oil production plant at Corydon, Ind.] and my dad, I wouldn't be out here. I've had an amazing two years. This is something I will cherish the rest of my life." In nearly two full seasons of racing, Arana has one No. 1 qualifier and one final-round appearance. He was the lone rookie to make the 2013 Countdown to the Championship.

Jenna Haddock, for not gloating when she won her first-ever round of Top Fuel competition this summer at the Mopar Mile High Nationals at Denver, defeating No. 1 qualifier Tony Schumacher. She was as humble as she is frugal with the budget for her and her husband Terry's race-car teams. "We don’t have millions of dollars," she said, "but we're going to try. We're going to keep going until we can't possibly go any more. But we're smart enough to know we aren't going backwards."

Jason Rittenberry, President & CEO of IRG Sports + Entertainment, and IHRA President Scott Gardner, for their resources, professionalism, and open minds in forging a new and exciting path for the IHRA at all levels.

Heart surgeons and their teams in North Carolina who patched up Greg Anderson's heart, enabling him to enjoy his family to a fuller degree and to resume his racing. Anderson missed the first five events of the season but came back just as aggressive as he always was. "I think we're just as capable now as we have ever been," Anderson said. "We still have the same group. The nucleus has never separated. All of the guys on our team want to win. You have to want to win in this class. You aren't going to go very far if you just want to have fun out there, and we've never lost the desire to win. The arrows are all pointing up for the future. I'm very satisfied with the way that we've attacked the animal this year."

Funny Car driver Alexis DeJoria, for once again hosting the "Mammovan" at her pit during the Las Vegas race in October (in tandem with Nevada Health Services), offering free mammograms during breast cancer awareness month.Swedish champion Jimmy Ålund, for being a super substitute for Pro Stock headliner Greg Anderson while the four-time NHRA titlist recovered from open-heart surgery – and for winning his ninth FIA European Pro Stock crown in September following his five-race stint in the United States. Ålund drove the Summit Racing/KB Racing Pro Stock Camaro in NHRA competition, steadily improved, and closed his assignment with a victory in April at Charlotte at the Four-Wide Nationals. Fans appreciated his sense of humor. After winning at zMAX Dragway, he said, "To outrun nine cars in one day and the people in those cars and teams you have been looking up to when you’re racing in Europe, it's pretty awesome. I remember the first race at Pomona, Greg said drive it like I stole it. And I'm actually thinking about stealing it from him right now."

Top Fuel's Richie Crampton, for handling first-time fatherhood and victories at Englishtown and Indianapolis with aplomb and keeping his humility right through the postseason, when he was named recipient of the Auto Club of Southern California's Road to The Future Award as the NHRA's top-performing rookie. Crampton also made two of the 10 quickest elapsed times in the 1,000-foot era.

Brian Lohnes, Joe Castello, Mike English, Nate Hirschi, and Leo Taugher for their excellence in announcing and complementing lead NHRA public-address announcer Alan Reinhart. Being knowledgeable, accurate, and entertaining for hours on end day after day, race after race is no easy task. They all, Reinhart included, are to be commended for their preparation, intelligence, savvy, and willingness to do that job over and over.

Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Andrew Hines, for maturing in the sport immensely since he reeled off three consecutive championships from 2004 through 2006 and rolling with the recent rules-change-induced punches to break his eight-year title drought. "There's been a lot of work that's happened at our Vance & Hines race shop here in the last couple years, and luckily I've been heavily involved in what's been going on here, and it brings a different level of pride to it," the Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson racer said. "Really, with the tutoring from my brothers and crew chiefs, I've learned more about every aspect of the motorcycle and what it needs to go down the racetrack. I've become better accustomed to giving better feedback and things, and I think that's paying big dividends right now," he said.

Shirley Muldowney for her unwavering support for and defense of animals.

Terry Chandler, for funding the "Make A Wish" Dodge Charger Funny Car that Tommy Johnson drove to a victory at Bristol and third place in the standings. A marshmallow Santa to Don Schumacher, too, for participating in the program to host and grant wishes of critically ill children.

The Don Schumacher Racing organization for its financial contributions to Riley Children's Hospital and Medical Center at Indianapolis through its September Open House and its December bowling event.

Professional Drag Racing Association owners Mitchell Scruggs, his son and star of the defunct ADRL series star Jason Scruggs, and fellow racers Gene Hector, Roger Henson, and Tommy Franklin, for restoring credibility and civility to the eighth-mile pro doorslammer drag racing community.

Snap-on Tools, for donating $10,000 for every three-second NHRA Funny Car pass to Honor Flight Network, an organization dedicated to transporting U.S. veterans to Washington, D.C., to visit memorials dedicated to their service. Snap-on, with Funny Car owner-driver Cruz Pedregon, presented Honor Flight a check for $150,000 at the final event of the year. Pedregon's 3.991-second run this season at Reading, Pa., contributed to the fund. Pedregon also clocked the quickest Funny Car time in history at 3.959 seconds in June at Englishtown, three races before Snap-on began the promotion. Tommy Johnson Jr. (3.999, Joliet) and Alexis DeJoria (3.998, Brainerd, Minn.) generated $20,000, and Matt Hagan was responsible for $20,000 in donations with his 3.998 in September at Indianapolis and 3.983 at the fall Las Vegas race.

Graham Light, NHRA senior vice-president of racing operations, for making the effort to walk through the media center at the final race of the year and individually greet and thank each for covering the sport. That's how it’s done, Glendora.

Brittany Force, for choosing to compete in the Top Fuel class, for sure. After racing her dad, the inimitable 16-time Funny Car champion, in an exhibition pass during preseason testing at Jupiter, Fla., she said, "Just running him that one time makes me think I could never be in Funny Car. We had about 100 pep talks. I was fine going up there. I don't ever worry or try and think about who I am running. He had me so worked up about him being in the other lane. He was just trying to help me, but it was a little too much."

Rob Wendland, for bouncing back from his Jan. 22 dismissal from Don Schumacher Racing's Funny Car program. Wendland remained active all season, most notably helping Funny Car's Jeff Diehl. He's Terry McMillen's new crew chief for the Amalie Oil / UNOH Dragster. A candy cane – with a bite out of it – goes to Schumacher for at least saying when he let Wendland go, "There's not a grain of sand I'd throw at him. He's a good guy. I'm sure he'll land out here somewhere." Uniquely put, and right you are, Mr. Schumacher.

Funny Car driver Jack Beckman, for his Infinite Hero Foundation challenge coins. He took the military-style tokens on each pass down the racetrack, and fans purchased them for $100 apiece. The entire proceeds went to the foundation, whose pledge says in part: "We will marshal the resources of technology, community, medical research, and mental-health care to foster collaborative innovation and affect positive change for our heroes in need."

Doug Styers, engine specialist for Steve Whiteley’s Pro Modified ’68 Camaro, grew out his thick silver locks to help more mature people experiencing hair loss because of a variety of medical conditions. With encouragement from wife Teri and their family, Styers, of Grand Junction, Colo., grew his hair into an eight-inch-long ponytail to donate to WigFund.com, a charity that’s akin to the Locks of Love concept.

Khalid AlBalooshi, for keeping his promise to treat the entire Al-Anabi Racing team – his crew and teammate Shawn Langdon’s, as well – to dinner after winning the Winternationals. He took them to a sushi restaurant at Phoenix the night before the Carquest Nationals opened. Said alBalooshi of being in the Top Fuel points lead for the first time, "This has never happened before, so I am excited about being in this position. It is way different for me. I have raced Top Fuel for three years, and this is the first time I have been the points leader."

Jeff Diehl, for weathering one bum deal after another this season. The talented but tight-budgeted Funny Car owner-driver had stopped stewing about the timing-system malfunction at Sonoma, Calif., that cost him a qualifying run and left him with a failure to qualify. But another unfortunate rule brought the same results Saturday at Reading, Pa., for the "Surfer Dude" who came across country from his home near the Bay Area to race his JDR Toyota Solara. Provisional qualifiers Friday must rank in the top 12 in order for their best elapsed times to carry over to Saturday’s final day of qualifying; E.T.s for those not in the top 12 are tossed out and those drivers start Saturday qualifying with no recorded times. Diehl missed the top-12 advantage by .012 of a second, so his best time, 4.120 seconds, was erased. He had a 7.769-second pass Saturday but improved significantly to 5.377 in his last chance. John Bojec made the field in his NHRA Funny Car debut, setting the bump spot at 5.029. Diehl missed out by .113 seconds. Diehl’s 4.120-second E.T. would have qualified if the “12” rule weren’t in effect.

NAUGHTY

Connie Kalitta, for his callous dismissal of driver Dave Grubnic during the middle of qualifying at the spring Las Vegas race. The man deserved better.

Decision-makers at the NHRA, for allowing cars to run Sunday night at Atlanta after an eight-hour rain delay on an ill-prepared track, for allowing four dragster pairings to waste their opportunities and endanger themselves, and for ugly remarks to drivers and their crews when they protested. Gentlemen, we're always hearing about safety and doing what's judicious for the well-being of the drivers. Well, ho-ho-ho. Somebody forgot to practice what the company is preaching.

Along those same lines, John Force makes the Naughty List for repeatedly brushing off daughter Courtney's complaints of continual headaches and leaving her to discover, with help from her now-fiance Graham Rahal, that she had a concussion and that her concerns about her cockpit seat being askew were founded. John Medlen also admitted that he missed the clues. So that means even the most safety-conscious among the NHRA's elite didn’t recognize danger because it was disguised as some cruel optical illusion. Blame it on an abnormality in a driver’s seat mounting so subtly imprecise that it was almost undetectable. But hooray for Courtney Force for insisting that she wasn't imagining things and for pressing the issue. He has apologized, and they've moved forward, but that was a reminder for everyone to continue to be vigilant about safety.

Mike Edwards, the 2009 Pro Stock champion, for not coming to the races to visit all his admirers and friends in 2014 after stepping from the cockpit. We're just teasin' ya, Mike, for putting you on the Naughty List – it's just that we all miss you and your kind spirit and want you back out here among your friends.

And here are a couple of Naughty and Nice reruns that are starting to become as predictable as the Charlie Brown Christmas special on TV, although maybe not as cute and endearing. But like the Charles Schultz classic, they're still true:

The NHRA, for still not figuring out a way to house team and manufacturer PR reps in the tower at Lucas Oil Raceway with the media members with whom they need to communicate. The PR folks are a quarter-mile away, three stories up, in the NASCAR track press room. They can't even see the action on the track. That's terribly inconvenient when the purpose is to communicate. Maybe that can be fixed by next Labor Day weekend. (And a huge bundle of switches, too, to the person who removed the George Moore portrait from the media center at Indianapolis. History lesson: the late and great George Moore, from The Indianapolis Star, was one of the finest, most talented, most respected automotive journalists in America. He knew racers, and he knew how to use the English language properly. His memory needs to be honored, not stuck in a closet by somebody who has no idea about the history of the U.S. Nationals or respect for those who helped publicize the sport. Let’s see that picture put back where it belongs by next August.)

The television “creatives,” for not using their resourcefulness to find a better programming format for the NHRA broadcasts. Yes, the sport does not lend itself well to live television – nobody’s fault there. But find a creative way to present the personalities and the news of the moment. If you have no clues, come see ol’ Santa. He has a few ideas.

And how about a little support from elsewhere in the ESPN network? These pre-emptions and confusing, always-changing air-time slots that catch the eyes of maybe some graveyard-shift workers need to stop. Moreover, wouldn’t it be nice to see some performance highlights on Sunday evenings. About the only exposure some potential fans receive is footage of Angie Smith on her run-amok Pro Stock Motorcycle on a scary ride that could have seen her sliced and diced in a northern Ohio cornfield – and Matt Hagan's sensational engine explosion from Charlotte. How about some promotional ads? Wait a minute – that might mean the network was committed to showing the race at a prescribed time. Never mind. What was ol' Santa thinking?

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