If Jerry Nadeau's favorite Christmas movie isn't "A Wonderful Life," it probably should be this year.

The veteran NASCAR driver has a lot to be thankful for this holiday season. He has the love of his family, a supportive and understanding racing organization behind him and, most importantly, is progressing nicely from the near-fatal crash he suffered at Richmond, Va., in early May.

"There's no doubt that I have been blessed to be here -- I don't know how else to say it," Nadeau said. "I had a very serious accident and was lucky to survive. I don't remember anything about the accident -- I was out cold. From what I have heard, there was a lot of concern that I wasn't going to make it (survive)."

Not only does Nadeau consider himself lucky for surviving such a violent wreck, he's also fortunate for another very special reason.

"This is going to be a very special holiday for us with it being my daughter's (Natalie Kate, 10 months old) first Christmas, and I am here to enjoy these precious moments of life," Nadeau said. "Some people might say I had a very unfortunate year, but I look at it so much differently. We had a healthy daughter come into our lives and I survived a serious accident. That's anything but unfortunate and I feel extremely blessed."

However, if there is any downside to the festiveness of the holiday season, it's that Nadeau's comeback to full-time competition in the new Nextel Cup Series is going slower than anticipated. Nadeau had hoped to be fully recovered from his injuries -- the most serious being head and brain trauma -- by the 2004 season-opening Daytona 500 on February 15.

Unfortunately, that timeline was a bit too optimistic. Odds are more realistic that Nadeau will return to racing either later in the upcoming season, or perhaps not until the start of the 2005 campaign.

But that's all right with the 33-year-old Danbury, Conn., native. He knows he'll be back on the track banging fenders and chasing the checkered flag with the likes of Rusty Wallace, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth soon enough.

"The good news is that I can do what normal people do everyday, I just can't race. I know I have a brain injury that I have to let heal and I am not rushing it. My left side is not coming in as fast as I thought it would. I have feeling, but it just doesn't work right. It's like when your arm falls asleep with a tingly feeling.

	Jerry Nadeau was pulled out of the roof of his car on a backboard after a hard crash at Richmond.

"For me, it's like that 24 hours a day. The doctors say that it should go away, but the problem is they don't know how long it will take. I have accepted that I'm not fully recovered right now, but I am making progress everyday and I will get there. I know I will."

Like any other racer who is away from the sport he loves for any extended period of time, Nadeau admits to going stir-crazy at times, wanting to get back into the thick of things. But once the decision was made that he not only would miss his hoped-for comeback at Daytona this coming February, as well as potentially missing the entire season while allowing his brain injury to fully heal, Nadeau accepted his fate with surprisingly good resolve.

"It was more of a relief because I was praying every night for somebody to zap me so I could get better," Nadeau said. "The guys and Jay Frye (MB2 Motorsports general manager) were encouraging me, but deep inside I couldn't see myself being ready and it was frustrating. I wasn't upset that Joe (Nemechek) was going to drive the U.S. Army car in 2004 -- I was more relieved than anything else.

"You can only do so much to get better. I try to sleep as much as I can to get more rest for my head and do whatever I can to get better. The doctors say I am doing perfect and feel that I will regain at least 95 percent. But what they (the doctors) can't tell me is how long it will take. I'm going to take it slow, hopefully do a few races in ARCA, Busch and Cup next year and see how I do. If I feel great, then I am going to bust my butt to make sure I am perfectly right for 2005. I can only do so much.

"I am not going to rush or force this recovery program. There is no magic formula for a brain injury. The goal right now is to make sure the U.S. Army car is going to be fast for Joe next year. I am proud that Joe will be driving the Army car -- he's a great guy. The Army has been superb to me. They're such wonderful people to be associated with. The Army's motto is never to leave a fallen comrade behind and that's exactly the way they've treated me. I am proud and honored to be part of the Army team."

	"	Some people might say I had a very unfortunate year, but I look at it so much differently. We had a healthy daughter come into our lives and I survived a serious accident. That's anything but unfortunate and I feel extremely blessed. "
		— Jerry Nadeau

Nadeau climbed back behind the wheel of a stock car for the first time since his accident nearly two weeks ago during a test session at Concord (N.C.) Motorsport Park.

"I wasn't totally back, but probably 80-85 percent," Nadeau said. "What's important is the test session gave me a baseline to know where I am at and what I have to do. I was hoping to do better, but I set some very high goals when I got there. Concord is a hard track, but overall I thought it went okay, considering I haven't been in a race car for seven months.

"Concord is the type of track if you make a little mistake you can destroy the car. I didn't want to take any chances and probably didn't push it as hard as I could have. However, I learned a lot about myself and how far I have come since the accident. I know I have a problem and it's going to take time. I'm not going to put any pressure on myself or have a targeted date to return. This is going to take time and I'm not going to rush it. We'll probably test again next month at a different track."

Ironically enough, Nadeau did take part in a World Karting Endurance race (go-karts) at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte in early November, teaming with his father Girard and former NASCAR great Ernie Irvan -- whose own Winston Cup career was cut short by severe crash-related injuries. Given the caliber of talent behind the wheel, it's probably not surprising that the trio came away with the checkered flag in their category.

It was a small step on his road back, but a significant step nonetheless for Nadeau. And if he continues at the rate he's been going, those small steps will soon come together to become one giant leap right back into the driver's seat of the No. 01 U.S. Army Pontiac.

"I've learned plenty about myself (during his ordeal)," Nadeau said. "My view on life is a whole lot different. I want to tell everybody who has children to spend more time with them, play with them and be part of their lives. You never know when your day will come. I feel extremely blessed that I can be with my wife (Jada) and see our daughter grow up."

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Motorsportwriter@MSN.com.