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Stock car driver uses engineering degree to his benefit

Stock car driver uses engineering degree to his benefit

Tuesday, Jan, 22, 2019 04:28PM

College degrees do not always define an individual's career path but instead open the doors to an opportunity that may have once seemed unimaginable. For example, Matt Sheppard is using his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in his professional stock car driving career.

According to the Canadian Press, Sheppard won $50,000 for winning a Super DIRTcar Series race just a few years after graduating from a New York-based institution. His mechanical engineering focus helped him understand how machinery works and how to design, make or use them.

While some people may wonder how a college education can help someone drive a car, Sheppard's father, Stu, said he can see his son's degree on display in every race.

"The education I can see working with him here and there — how he figures things out," he told the news source. "So the engineering education I think was really helpful to him, how everything operates."

Sheppard is not the only decorated stock car racer who went to school for engineering. Late NASCAR Cup champion Alan Kulwicki and current Sprint Cup Series star Ryan Newman received degrees in similar fields.

Racing cars isn't the only way to make money with a degree in mechanical engineering. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary for occupations in this field is $77,020 per year.

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