Anybody here race for a living?

[The Archer]

So I want to become a race car driver once I leave school, but I have some concerns.
- I'm 17 years old and have no racing experience whatsoever. I don't even have a license yet.
- Where do I start? Books? Racing school? Get on a pit team?
- How expensive is racing anyway? Surely racing school is cheaper than college?
- How important are sponsors?

I'm clearly at a pretty big disadvantage, I know most pro racers are raised with racing in their childhood, and frankly, I wasn't.

Any and all advice is appreciated!