DECATUR - You can't really make a living driving a race car, unless you're on the level of a Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart.

But you can make some money and have some fun.

A race car owned by Steve Ewing was a new feature at the annual Careers on Wheels event this week.

Ewing had a wreck in the car at Macon Speedway last weekend, but he tacked it back together for the event, said Roger Drake, who accompanied the car and talked to kids about racing. He showed them the safety equipment and discussed the expenses involved in keeping a car on the track.

"It's not really what you want to do for a career unless you've got lots of money to get involved in it," Drake said. "Obviously, people do make a living at it, but it's at an upper level."

The car resembles Lightning McQueen from the Pixar movie "Cars," Drake said, which gets the kids' attention right away. He also pointed out to the children that racing is a dangerous sport.

"I've seen people killed in this type of race car," Drake said. "I've been racing for 40 years, and I've seen a lot of wrecks and I've been in a lot of wrecks."

Careers on Wheels is sponsored by Junior Achievement and Teamsters Local 279 and held annually at the Decatur-Macon County Fairground. The event showcases careers that require driving and this included a fire truck, police car, Caterpillar Inc. earthmoving machinery, a Pepsi delivery truck and a postal truck, among many others. More than 900 students from schools in the Macon-Piatt region attended.

Junior Achievement used to aim the event at sixth-graders, said Nelda Sumner, president of the organization, but sixth-graders have an annual career fair at Millikin University, which is sponsored by Partners in Education, so Junior Achievement shifted its focus to fourth-graders.

It's the perfect age to start thinking about a career, said Meridian fourth-grade teacher Adam Snively, who was shepherding a group from vehicle to vehicle.

"They can focus more on what they want to study in school, when they get older and can choose their classes," Snively said. "They can see how what we talk about in school is relevant to different jobs that are out in the workplace. They're 10 now, and 10 years from now, they may be doing one of these jobs."

Valerie Wells can be reached at vwells@ herald-review.com or 421-7982.