The Racecar Alphabet by Brian Floca This tribute to race cars looks simply but there are many things going on at once. There is the race, the alphabetical text using alliterative phrases, and finally, each turn of the page represents a time shift. Although a single race appears to proceed throughout the book, the cars, drivers, tracks, and spectators change considerably from the book's opening in 1901, when a Ford chugs along a country road, to the conclusion in 2001, when a Ferrari takes its victory lap around an immense racetrack.