Long Beach Grand Prix - Definition and Overview

The United States Grand Prix West was a race held at Long Beach, California, as a Formula 5000 race in 1975 and a Formula One championship event from 1976 to 1983. After 1983 the event returned as the Long Beach Grand Prix of the CART series.

With the Watkins Glen track on the downslope during the mid-70s, the USGP West was created, making the US just the second country (after Italy) to host two Championship F1 events in the same season. The street circuit was an immediate success from its first race in 1976, and it became the U.S.'s answer to the Monaco Grand Prix. The layout of the downtown course changed three times over its eight-year run, but all featured a sweeping "straight" (actually a long right-hander) down Shoreline Drive along the harbor. In the final event in 1983, John Watson won from 22nd place on the grid, the farthest back from which a modern Grand Prix driver had ever come to win a race.

Winners of the United States Grands Prix West

See also

• United States Grand Prix
• United States Grand Prix East
• Las Vegas Grand Prix