Priceless Moments in US GP history

[Gerard]

To commemorate the rich history of the U.S. Grand Prix, a well known creditcard company today announced it will conduct a poll among U.S. sports media to determine the 'Priceless' Moment of the U.S. Grand Prix.
These are the nominations:

1959, Sebring.
Bruce McLaren won the first U.S. Grand Prix, but the drama was provided by Jack Brabham, whose Cooper ran out of gas about a quarter-mile from the finish line. Brabham pushed the car the car uphill to the checkered flag and finished fourth, clinching the world championship.

1961, Watkins Glen.
Innes Ireland gained his only F1 victory and gave Team Lotus its first-ever Grand Prix win as the U.S. Grand Prix found its first real home in the United States in Upstate New York.

1967, Watkins Glen.
Jim Clark held on to win his third U.S. Grand Prix, nursing home his Lotus after a rear suspension piece broke, causing the right rear wheel to sag inward. A 45-second lead over teammate Graham Hill two laps from the end shrank to just six seconds at the checkers.

1968, Watkins Glen.
American Mario Andretti, driving in his first Formula One race, piloted a Lotus to the pole, beating teammate Graham Hill by 0.07-seconds.

1970, Watkins Glen.
Emerson Fittipaldi, a 23-year-old rookie, drove his Lotus to the first victory of his Formula One career in only his fourth start. In doing so, he clinched the championship for teammate Jochen Rindt, who had been killed during practice for the Italian Grand Prix, three races earlier.

1973, Watkins Glen.
Ronnie Peterson's Lotus beat James Hunt's Hesketh March to the flag by 0.688-second, the smallest winning margin in U.S. Grand Prix history.

1976, Long Beach.
Mario Andretti failed to finish the first Grand Prix in Long Beach, won by Clay Regazzoni, but ran into Lotus team owner Colin Chapman at breakfast the next morning and the next season wound up moving to the team with which he would win a world title in 1978.

1977, Long Beach.
Mario Andretti outdueled Niki Lauda and Jody Sheckter to win at Long Beach, becoming the only American driver to win a U.S. Grand Prix. Andretti, driving Colin Chapman's revolutionary Lotus 78 with ground effects to its first win, passed Scheckter under braking, then held off Lauda by 0.773-seconds for his third career win.

1979, Watkins Glen.
Ferrari teammate Jody Scheckter called Gilles Villeneuve mad after the Canadian driver set first-day fast time in the rain by an incredible nine seconds. Villeneuve wound up starting third and running away with the race, beating runner-up Rene Arnoux to the finish by 48 seconds in the rain.

1980, Watkins Glen.
New Formula One world champion Alan Jones fell from second to 14th with an off-course excursion on the first turn of the race, but came back to win the last U.S. Grand Prix in Watkins Glen. It was a grand end to the first championship year for team owner Frank Williams.

1981, Las Vegas.
Nelson Piquet provided the most dramatic moments of the first Grand Prix in Las Vegas, barely staving off heat exhaustion, his head visibly falling from side to side as he drove through the final laps and held onto fifth place. The two points for that finish were just enough to give the Brazilian the world championship by one point over Carlos Reutemann.

1982, Detroit.
In the first race on the tight, 17-turn circuit in downtown Detroit, John Watson sliced through the field, passing three cars on one memorable lap to move from fifth to second, then passing Keke Rosberg to take the lead for good.

1983, Long Beach.
McLaren teammates John Watson and Niki Lauda drove from 22nd and 23rd on the grid, respectively, to finish first and second in the last Long Beach Grand Prix featuring the Formula One series. It was the farthest back from which a modern Grand Prix driver ever came to win a race.

1984, Dallas.
Nigel Mansell hit the wall on the final corner of the one and only Dallas Grand Prix. Illegally, but to the delight of the crowd and despite smothering heat and humidity, the Brit began pushing his car but collapsed in a heap before reaching the finish line. He was scored sixth.

1990, Phoenix.
Ayrton Senna won the race, but only after an exciting duel with Formula One newcomer Jean Alesi. Alesi started fourth on the grid, but leapt into the lead on the first lap and began to pull away. By the time Senna got by pole-winner Gerhard Berger for second, he trailed Alesi by 8.2 seconds. But Senna caught the young Frenchman, nearly got by him on lap 34 and finally did take the lead on the next trip around the downtown street circuit with a great pass.