A Dangerous Sport
Car racing drivers are vulnerable to dangers that other sportsmen
seldom face. Drivers agree that controlling a car at top speeds on
a winding course is a singularly awesome experience. There is a bedlam
caused by the roaring motors which move a car from the standing start
to 100 miles an hour in eight seconds. One is shaken by the cacophony
of the brakes, larger than the wheels and producing on a course of
350 miles race enough heat to warm a 8-room house through a hard winter.
The driver has to be on the alert to exploit any mistake by an opponent,
he must be constantly aware the propinquity of sudden death. All of these 
makes car racing one of the most demanding games of all.

a white elephant--when he discovered the 30-volume encyclopedia, dated
1895, in his attic, he knew he had a white elephant on his hands.
(a costly and useless possession.)