The electric car may be Motorsports’ ‘elephant in the room’

On Saturday, officials of the company that owns the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced that it will close in May, ending a 146-year run that dates back to a time before automobiles or airplanes or movies, when Ulysses S. Grant was president and minstrel shows were popular entertainment.

Animal rights activists put pressure on cities where the circus toured. Los Angeles and Oakland prohibited the use of bull-hooks by elephant trainers. Asheville, North Carolina, banned wild or exotic animals from performing in the city-owned stadium.

The symbol of the 'Greatest Show on Earth' was the elephant, and that's what they've been known for throughout the world for more than a hundred years. When activists got the Elephants banned from the show, the owners said it would never be the same.

And, it wasn't. Feld Entertainment removed the elephants in 2016, sending all 40 of them to their Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida. Ticket sales plummeted.

Sixty-three years ago, in his circus program essay, Hemingway marveled at the way performers made stunts and tricks in the ring look so simple.

"It is all wonderfully easy in your dreams," he wrote.

There were a number of different factors that caused the closing of this circus, but the final straw was the elimination of the elephants.

There are many parallels between the circus and racing.

What is the equivalent of the elephant attraction in racing, and when will it be taken away? Hint – it is the sound.