NASCAR drivers and college education

Not that it matters but I'm just curious who went where. Well, it turns out there is only one active full-time driver with a bachelor's degree in the Sprint Cup, Ryan Newman. He earned his engineering degree at Purdue University and credits his degree in vehicle structure engineering with helping him succeed on the track. He graduated from college in 2001 and was named NASCAR's Rookie of the Year in 2002. It's a little bit surprising to me at first but then I realized most drivers got started young and the season is loooong. They just don't have time to go to college.

Sports highlights: a special weekend for auto-racing fans

First of all, may the 2 drivers (including past winner from HK, 丘永材) passed away at Macau Grand Prix last weekend rest in peace. Formula 1 returned to US after a few years of hiatus and it was extra special to me because this race was in Austin, Texas. Tons of controversies surrounded this brand-new race track in the past few years. Some doubted it would ever been built, let alone having a race in 2012! Also glad to see the final result, which was a pleasant surprise to me: usually it's a boring race when Vettel won the pole and then led wire-to-wire (i.e, led every lap except during pit cycle maybe) but he couldn't do it and was overtaken by Lewis Hamilton, one of the most aggressive and fun-to-watch F1 driver IMO. Now the championship will be decided at the next race with only 13 points separating Vettel and Alonso. Well, championships at all 3 levels of NASCAR have been decided last weekend already. All 3 championship leaders had ~20 point leads entering the last race but nothing was easy. Jimmie Johnson almost pulled it off to win his 6th championship by saving fuel better than the championship leading Brad Keselowski. However, mechanical problem ultimately doomed his quest. Oh well, it proves once again luck averages out. He got some breaks during his championship winning seasons in addition to his superior skills (and that of his crew) Same goes for legendary race team owner Roger Penske. He saw his IndyCar driver Will Power entering the last race with a decent lead in the championship and then gave it away. It's hard to predict then his other driver, Brad Keselowski of NASCAR, was the one winning him the championship this year! Congrat to Mr. Penske for winning his first NASCAR Spring Cup championship after competing in it all these years.