Set in the desert near the Box Spring Mountain complex east of Los Angeles, the Riverside track featured a particularly demanding uphill esses section, just past the start-finish line.

Jack Brabham, who had already clinched his second consecutive World Championship a few weeks prior in Portugal, was back with teammate Bruce McLaren in the factory Cooper-Climaxes.

With the Championship chase over, Enzo Ferrari decided to keep his cars at home, believing his time and money would be better spent preparing for the new 1.5-liter Formula for 1961.

Phil Hill was astonished at the "incredible" difference in handling between the year-old, rear-engined green and red Cooper he was given for the race and the Monza winning Dino Ferrari he had been driving all season, but he managed to put it only thirteenth on the grid.

As Brabham took the early lead into Turn One, ahead of Gurney and Moss, the Riverside radio and PA announcer could only call their names and utter, "Wow."

Two stops failed to find the source of the problem, or to assuage Brabham's concern over the noises and flames erupting from the back of the car.

Happily, the following year would see the United States Grand Prix finally settle into a regular home, with a loyal and appreciative crowd in Watkins Glen, New York.