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What: “Laguna Seca Raceway: Forty Years Through the Corkscrew,” by David Friedman and Mary-Ellen Wright-Rana.

Price: $72 hard cover, $48 soft cover, published by Wadsworth Publishing Co., Marceline, Mo.

Where available: Laguna Seca Raceway only, (800) 327-7322.

On the 40th anniversary of the world famous road-racing track on the Monterey Peninsula, David Friedman’s photographs and Mary Ellen Wright-Rana’s writing cover every aspect of one of the most respected motor racing facilities in the world. Originally on the grounds of Ft. Ord, nearly every automobile driver and motorcycle rider of any note at one time or another has come screaming down the famed Corkscrew that is Laguna Seca’s trademark.

Friedman has been there from the beginning, photographing Phil Hill, Jackie Stewart and Stirling Moss, Dan Gurney and Mario Andretti, Al Unser Jr. and Alex Zanardi. In his photos, Kenny Roberts, Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson ride again on their way to world motorcycle championships.

“You knew that when you won at Laguna Seca, you won big,” Rainey said.

The pictorial history begins with the first race, National Championship Sports Car races, in November 1957, and concludes with the world championship VISA SportsCar event last October. In keeping with Friedman’s philosophy, there are no crash pictures in the 272-page limited edition. There are, however, hundreds of photos of classic racing matchups, among them the famous last-lap pass of leader Bryan Herta in the Corkscrew by Zanardi in the 1996 CART race.

There is also a section on the Monterey Historic Automobile Races in which a famous racing marque or personality such as Juan Manuel Fangio is honored each August. Wright-Rana, for many years the track’s public relations director, brings the pictures in focus with their time in her commentary. Lacking only stock cars, the history of Laguna Seca is a microcosm of racing in America.