Fernando Alonso is a Formula One champion now, and one of the best things about that is he now can forget about racing for points and try to add to his six victories this season in the final two events of 2005.
The 24-year-old Renault star, the youngest champion in F1 history, wrapped up that title with a third-place finish last Sunday in Brazil. The race was won by McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya, who easily passed Alonso for the lead.
Alonso assured everyone that he won't be so easy to pass in Suzuka, Japan, on Oct. 9 or in the season finale Oct. 16 in Shanghai, China.
"If you think about when Montoya overtook me, I didn't take any risks on Sunday," Alonso said. "It will be different in Suzuka."
And there is still some work to do for Alonso and teammate Giancarlo Fisichella, with the Renault team trailing McLaren's duo of Montoya and series runner-up Kimi Raikkonen by two points in the manufacturer's championship.
But Alonso can sit back for a while and relish his title.
"I still find it hard to believe that it is true, that it has actually happened," Alonso said. "I can't really feel anything at the moment, but I think it will come slowly. I have achieved my dream, the thing I have been fighting for since I was 3 years old."
The young Spaniard said he especially is pleased to have won the championship with the young Renault team.
"I am very proud to have won with this team," he said. "I joined them as a test driver in 2002 and we were fighting for fifth place in the constructors' championship. We have grown up together, them and me. Today, we are all champions, every one of us."
It may all be new to Alonso, but the young driver really is enjoying the aftermath of wrapping up his title.
"I was told that 50,000 people celebrated my win (in his hometown of Oviedo, Spain)," he said. "I have missed a lot of things in life, made a lot of sacrifices and worked very hard. The people and their celebration are the reward for that. I like being a showman, too. I drive so that people can enjoy watching the races. And I haven't finished yet."
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NASCAR TV: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's senior medical correspondent, has put together a TV special that follows NASCAR drivers on and off the track to examine safety and athletic performance.
The program, "NASCAR: Driven to Extremes," debuts Oct. 16 on CNN.
During the special, Gupta reveals NASCAR to be more than fast cars zipping around an oval track. As he reports on the athleticism and safety required to be a top racing team, he offers viewers a revealing look at how the speeds, the heat, the intensity and the crashes associated with high-stakes auto racing impact the human body. Gupta also gets behind the wheel of a stock car to see what it takes physically to drive at high speeds.
"The incredible strain on the human body from the heat, G-forces and the mental focus is like nothing I've seen before," Gupta said. "We're also going to give audiences a sense of how challenging it is to protect people at high speeds. We'll likely debunk quite a few misperceptions about the fitness and athleticism required to be a NASCAR racer."
Among the drivers studied by Gupta are former champion Rusty Wallace, relative newcomer Carl Edwards, Jerry Nadeau, who was knocked out of competition by a head injury, and 15-year-old phenom Joey Logano.
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VETERAN THINKING: Joey Logano isn't acting like a 15-year-old rookie.
The stock car phenom couldn't even compete in the 2005 USAR Pro Cup series until after his birthday in May, but he has made up for lost time, qualifying for the five-race series championship and finishing second in the opener last weekend at Jennerstown, Pa., Speedway.
To get that runner-up finish, Logano had to think like a much more seasoned driver.
"We qualified 11th and stayed around eighth for most of the race," Logano said. "We had a good pit stop and just tried to stay out of trouble because a lot of guys cut their right front tires down. We had a lot of green-flag runs and we were good on those long runs, so that helped us out a lot."
The youngster took a late-race shot at eventual winner Joe Gaita, but came up .342 seconds short at the finish line.
"I burnt off my right front tire for the green flag run at the end with two laps to go," Logano said. "It was close, though. I was on his bumper at the finish line and he was just a tad faster. But I think if he was behind us, he wouldn't have been able to pass either. I could stay with him, but I wasn't fast enough to get under him and pass him clean."
Running only a partial schedule this year, Logano is 15th in the standings and well behind the top drivers in the points. But he still has some very high goals in mind.
"We started 120-something points back, so we definitely need a lot of top-five finishes to catch up," Logano said. "I guess our goal is to finish top five in the championship and be rookie of the year.
"Right now, we've gained a few spots. If we keep having good runs like last week and let the points fall where they will, we'll be in good shape."
The next race is Oct. 8 at Mansfield, Ohio, Motorsports Park.