ASTONISHING-AND TRUE--STORIES OF THE SPEEDWAY

A confusing hodgepodge of car racing anecdotes, The stories, arranged neither chronologically nor topically nor sanely, are often interesting--if not particularly astonishing--sidelights on automotive history. They range from a Go-Kart trip around the world to the feat of Count de Chasseloup-Laubat, who set the first land speed record at 39.24 mph, and from Rajo Jack, a great black racer barred from the lndianapolis 500 because of color, to the earliest races. Powell's love for his material is obvious, but in this format hardly infectious.