United States Grand Prix

The Governor also sent state militia troops to augment local police patrols in keeping the crowd in check, hoping to avoid the pitfalls of the Vanderbilt Cup races.

[5] In the race, held on Thanksgiving Day, Ralph DePalma led early in his Fiat, before falling back with lubrication and tire problems.

The American entries dominated the support events and ran well throughout the Grand Prize, after poor showings in past years and once again Bruce-Brown triumphed, this time driving a Fiat.

For 1914, the Grand Prize and Vanderbilt Cup were staged in Santa Monica Road Race Course, near Los Angeles, on an 8.417 mi (13.546 km) course, with the start/finish straight along the Pacific Ocean.

Heavy rain began two hours into the race, covering the circuit in mud from the extensive flower arrangements, and warping the main straight's boards.

However, while the driver's purse was enormous (as at Sebring), the event was no better received than the previous year's due to a lack of promotion, and proximity to the successful Times Grand Prix.

[16] Through most of 1961, Ulmann was listed as the promoter of the USGP; he contacted organizers in Miami and Bill France of the Daytona International Speedway but was unable to reach agreements.

[26] With just six weeks to organize the October 8 event, Argetsinger assembled the field, but was unable to convince Scuderia Ferrari to make the trip, leaving Richie Ginther and recently crowned World Champion Phil Hill out of their home Grand Prix.

Due to USGP's position on the calendar near the end of the season, often either the final or penultimate round, championships were often decided before the event.

In part to offset this, race organizers offered large sums of prize money; in 1969 the purse totaled $200,000 (with $50,000 for the winner),[27] and when in 1972 it was raised to $275,000, the Tyrrell team earned a record $100,000.

1972 saw Jackie Stewart win after Emerson Fittipaldi had already won the championship at the previous race, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

In the race, Swede Ronnie Peterson in a Lotus beat Briton driver James Hunt in a Hesketh-entered March to the finish by 0.6 of a second.

Austrian Helmut Koinigg crashed at the fast, long Outer Loop corner, the bend after the extended back straight on Lap 10.

Drivers began complaining about the bumpy track surface, and the teams and press were concerned over facilities, the lackluster level of security and rowdy fans.

[32] Race attendees began to go to the so-called "Bog", located inside the Boot, to set fire to objects and do other destructive things; cars and even a Greyhound bus in 1974 were burned there.

[38] Alan Jones won the 1980 race for Williams after he went off at the first corner on the first lap and charged through the field into second place from 17th, and he ended up taking the checkered flag after pole sitter Bruno Giacomelli retired with electrical problems near the Chute.

After Watkins Glen's demise, other Formula One Grands Prix in the United States were briefly held on street circuits in Detroit and Dallas, and a car park in Las Vegas.

The 1989 race saw Prost win his only Grand Prix in the United States by taking advantage of Senna's engine electronics problems.

On October 7, 1991, members of International Auto Sport Federation (FISA) met to discuss the agenda for the 1992 Formula One season, where they voted to cancel the contract with city of Phoenix.

Held in September in its first four years (in order to distance it from the "500" and NASCAR's Brickyard 400), the USGP at Indianapolis was moved to an early summer date in 2004 in late June, 3 weeks after the Indy 500 so it could be paired with the Canadian Grand Prix and to make room for new Asian rounds.

Only the three teams (six cars) with Bridgestone tires started the race, and the event was considered a farce with Ferrari's Michael Schumacher claiming a third consecutive win in the United States Grand Prix ahead of teammate Barrichello with Portuguese driver Tiago Monteiro claiming his only Formula One podium finish by finishing a lap down on winner Schumacher in third place for the Jordan team.

On July 12, 2007, Formula One and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced that the 2007 US Grand Prix would be the last one held at IMS for the foreseeable future, as both sides could not agree on the terms for the event.

[48] Then-Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO, Tony George, claimed that the USGP would not return to Indianapolis unless it made financial sense.

Due to the expensive fees paid to host a Grand Prix, the race would require a title sponsor to be economically viable.

[56] On May 25, 2010, Austin, Texas, was awarded the race on a ten-year contract, as Ecclestone and event promoter Full Throttle Productions agreed to a deal beginning in 2012.

[65][66] Reigning champion Sebastian Vettel took pole for the first race at the Texas circuit but it was 2007 winner Lewis Hamilton who kept his unbeaten run in the US as the two finished almost 40 seconds ahead of third.

[67] Attendance numbers had dropped to 224,011 in October 2015, for the 2015 United States Grand Prix event, after heavy rain from a quickly dissipating Hurricane Patricia.

2016 turned out to be the best-attended Grand Prix in Austin: boosted by a heated World Drivers' Championship battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, good weather, and the allure of a Saturday night concert from pop singer Taylor Swift, nearly 270,000 people went through the turnstiles during the race weekend.

The Caesars Palace Grand Prix ran as a Formula One World Championship race in Las Vegas in 1981 and 1982 (after which it continued two further years as an event in the CART series).

Finally, a one-off Dallas Grand Prix in Fair Park, Texas, was held in 1984; it was plagued by problems with the track surface, exacerbated by extremely hot 104 °F (40 °C) July weather.

American Grand Prize trophy
The grid for the 1915 Grand Prize in San Francisco
Ticket stub from the 1973 USGP
The start of the 1991 USGP in Phoenix
Crowds at the inaugural running of the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis exceeded 200,000
The 2003 USGP at Indianapolis
2012 US Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), Austin
Drivers' Parade at the 2021 USGP