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What: “The Atlantic Championship: A Quarter Century on the Road to Stardom,” by John Zimmerman. USDC Publishing, Indianapolis.

Price: $35.

Motor racing is no different from other sports in that there is a need for minor leagues, where future champions can learn their skills. Formula Atlantic, which began in Canada in the ‘70s as the Player’s Challenge Series, is one of those.

Like most minor leagues, there is a lack of publicity, but no shortage of determined drivers. Formula Atlantics are open-wheel, single-seat, road-racing cars and their series serves as training for Formula One, Indy cars and champ cars.

John Zimmerman, editor of Racer magazine, has followed the series closely and got an early start in meeting such future world Formula One champions as Jacques Villeneuve and Keke Rosburg, Indianapolis 500 winners Danny Sullivan and Bobby Rahal, plus Michael Andretti, Jimmy Vasser and Scott Goodyear. In this 213-page table top-sized book, Zimmerman’s text and a colorful collection of photographs from the past 25 years make it a must for followers of what is now called the Kool/Toyota Atlantic Championship Series.

“In a way, my own interest in racing cars began with the Atlantic series,” Villeneuve wrote in the foreword. “I was a boy, and I remember growing up in that atmosphere. My father [Gilles] launched his career by winning the Atlantic championship. His accomplishments, and those of my uncle Jacques, mean a lot to the people of Canada and they helped give birth to the tradition of great Canadian drivers. I’m proud to be able to carry on that tradition.”