She is 'racing against the clock' to be sure the assignment is handed in on time.
Her mind was 'racing'. [=she had many thoughts going quickly through her mind]
Researchers are 'racing (against time)' to find a cure.
(..) sort of performance? Gus, sit down. All right, so at the end of the book, Anna's... Let's imagine you're racing a tortoise. The tortoise has a ten-yard head start. In the time it takes you to run ten yards... the tortoise has moved maybe (..)2014 The Fault in Our Stars