Certainly NASCAR is a get your hands dirty, crawl under the hood type sport, but added technology and increasing advancements is demanding higher levels of education for its players.

And while NASCAR's CEO Brian France would like to "get back to the basics" of the sport, change is inevitable amidst growth and a diverse talent pool.

Paul Harraka

Team owners now expect their engineers and crew chiefs to come with college degrees, and a number of universities across the country now offer motorsports as a major paired with NASCAR-specific curriculum. Soon Ryan Newman won't be the only college graduate on the track.

Paul Harraka, the 18-year-old Jersey boy recently selected to join NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program, is on his way to Duke in the fall. Harraka was accepted under the school's early decision program. Raised to value academics and competition, Harraka said he plans to use his education to further his racing career by obtaining a mechanical engineering degree with a minor in business marketing.

"Nearly every major Cup team today has at least 20 engineers, those who understand the car best will do the best; Ray Evernham told me that," Harraka said. "And drivers need to increase their marketability any way they can and education is attractive for big companies."

Before NASCAR driver Ryan Newman could race in the Cup Series, he promised both his father and team owner Roger Penske he would get his degree. He did, which makes him the only college graduate on the track right now.

"My dad specifically, always said that you're going to get your education before you go full-time racing, period," Newman said. "The second person that was highly involved with that was Roger Penske. He wanted me to have my diploma before we started racing and racing hard. That makes a big difference."

Now 30 years old, Newman paid his way through Purdue University in Lafayette, Ind., and said the education has helped him to manage his time more effectively and has made him a better problem solver.

While more drivers are taking a second look at education, universities and colleges are meeting the demands with NASCAR curriculum and degrees.

"It shows the influence NASCAR has on education," Newman said. "Just for the benefit of NASCAR and the affect we have on kids and high-school students, instead of saying, 'I want to go to NASCAR,' I want them to say, 'I want to get an education then go to NASCAR.' I think that would be nice."

The powers that be at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte fully support that statement.

Last spring, the institution launched a new American Studies class that focuses primarily on the history and culture of NASCAR from its inception to it current state as the country's most popular form of motorsports; "Motorsports in the South: A Southern Tradition"

The university also touts its Motorsports Engineering program and annually awards a four-year Kulwicki Scholarship given in memory of late Cup champion Alan Kulwicki, who lost his life in a plane crash in 1993. Kulwicki, a college grad who was known for carrying a briefcase around the NASCAR garage, was an engineer and a supporter of engineering and science education. The scholarship is presented to a high-school senior who demonstrates outstanding academic achievement and has an affiliation with auto racing.

Rick Hendrick, another proponent of higher education, in May dedicated the Joe Hendrick Center for Automotive Technology at the Central Piedmont Community College's Levine Campus.

But the growth of NASCAR as a major isn't limited to Charlotte.

Other schools in the south and across the country are offering new courses in mechanical engineering, aerodynamics, tire technology and other areas of auto racing.

Old Dominion University in Hampton, Va., recently began offering a motorsports-technology degree as well as the Virginia Motorsports Technology Center in Henry County.

Designed to boost the motorsports industry in Virginia, the state poured $1.2 million into the facility, which is near Martinsville Speedway.

The center will house companies that build racecars and engines and will link with a new advanced motorsports curriculum at Patrick Henry Community College.

Seemingly, long gone are the days of the shade tree mechanic.

The NASCAR Technical Institute receives dozens of applications daily from young men and women who dream of working on one of the premier Cup teams in NASCAR.

Armed with engineering degrees and hands-on experience, they are becoming a team's dream, especially for manufacturers such as Toyota who this season is touting its new, enhanced engineering packages.

Newman said he wished more drivers were engineers and had college educations.

"It would be good for the sport," he said. "I think that the interest mostly lies in the age of drivers. People don't want to wait for kids to be out of college to hire them to drive. I wish that weren't the case. I'm glad that I have my education and I'm glad there are so many engineers in the garage."

Former substitute teacher turned Roush Fenway Racing Cup driver Carl Edwards is two semesters away from earning his degree at the University of Missouri. He agrees the sport should put a premium on education.

"The more you learn the better," Edwards said. "Having the knowledge to access information in this sport is power and schools creating a NASCAR major is amazing. Maybe when I retire I can get a job teaching the classes."