Mario Andretti won the 1977 US Grand Prix West at Long Beach on this day 43 years ago!

The race was marjked by a titanic and thrilling three-way battle between the Lotus driver, Wolf's Jody Scheckter and Ferrari's Niki Lauda.

It took the better part of 76 laps out of the race's 80 for Andretti to prevail with the elegant Lotus 78 and secure his third career win in the F1 world championship.

Mario's triumph at Long Beach remains to this day the only Grand Prix win for an American driver on home soil.