Last Thursday when I first heard of the passing of Phil Hill, the first American to win the F1 World Championship, I posted a quick note of appreciation on my personal blog, in which I said I’d write a fuller tribute later.

I’ve sat down to write that entry here on The Speed Blog at least three times over the weekend since, and never managed to get it to say what I wanted.  As usual in cases like this I went of and did some research, checking out Phil Hill’s official website, his wikipedia entry,  obituaries, a variety of F1 history sites, and pulled various reference books off my book case.  They all told the same basic story of dry facts about the man’s career, but little about the man himself.

Part way through the weekend I realized that my “memories” of Phil Hill were all retrocative, based on what I’d read or heard. I was only 3 years-old when we bacame World Champion, and I really didn’t become fully aware of Grand Prix racing till I was around 6 or 7. I recall that I did have a toy model of his famous shark-nose Ferrari and often raced it against my model Vanwalls. Lotus’s and others in my living room GPs. But that was about it.

Phil Hill is one of those icons that while being around during a large portion of my own life, is in some ways a figure from history. I never got to see him race, either in person, or on TV. His is a name I became familiar with through the printed word and photographs of an era I never knew.

Others can honor his memory and achievements better than I.

All I can add is rest in peace Mr. Hill - your place in auto-racing history will never be forgotten and every time I see a picture of you at speed in that beautiful Ferrari, it will always bring back some of my most cherished childhood memories.

The race that would become known as the United States Grand Prix was known for the first six years of its existence as simply “The Grand Prize.” The first race took place just over 100 years ago, on March 18th 1908,  in Savannah, GA, in front of a crowd of 5000 excited spectators. It was won by French driver Louis Wagner in a FIAT at an average speed of 65.11 mph. Wagner also holds the distinction of winning the first ever British GP

Louis Wagner crossing the finish line in Savannah to win the first American Grand Prize race.

After a year’s break the race returned to Savannah in 1910 and 1911 and on both occasions was won by American David L Bruce-Brown, first in a Benz and then in a FIAT by which time average speeds were up to 74 mph. The 1910 event holds the distinction of being the longest US GP on record with a race distance of 415.2 miles.

In 1912 the event was moved to a new home (starting what would become something of a tradition for the USGP over the next century) with the race taking place in Milwaukee. A FIAT once again lead the field, this time piloted by another American, Caleb Bragg. Two time defending champion Bruce-Brown was killed during practice for the event.

There was no 1913 race, and in 1914 the race for the Grand Prize moved to Santa Monica, CA where the streak of victories by home drivers continued with a win for Eddie Pullen in a Mercer.

1915 saw the first British winner of a US GP when Dario Resta took the win in a Peugeot. (He also went on to win the Indy 500 the following year.) This time race was held in the San Francisco area.

British driver Dario Resta - Winner of the 1915 American Grand Prize race

The race returned to Santa Monica in 1916 where Peugeot once again took the victory, this time with the car being shared by American drivers Howdy Wilcox and Johnny Aitken.

The 1916 event would be the last “Grand Prize” race and the US racing community would have to wait another 42 years before the arrival of the first true United States Grand Prix.

In the last month seven more drivers qualified to be included in the overall SPEED BLOG RANKINGS which rate drivers from NASCAR, Formula One, IndyCar, NHRA Drag Racing and World Rally against each other’s relative performances.

World Rally ace Mikko Hirvonen stays on the top again this month, while for the first time this year a NASCAR driver, Kyle Busch, breaks into the Top 10.

The Top 10 at the end of July are:

1. Mikko Hirvonen (Rally)
2. Sebastian Loeb (Rally)
3. Scott Dixon (IndyCar)
4. Helio Castroneves (IndyCar)
5. Tony Schumacher (NHRA)
6. Lewis Hamilton (F1)
7. Feliepe Massa (F1)
8. Kimi Raikkonnen (F1)
9. Robert Kubica (F1)
10. Kyle Busch (NASCAR)

As part of another writing project I’ve recently been rewatching the Disney-Pixar classic animated movie CARS. Watching the accompanying 16 minute documentary on the DVD abut the inspiration for, and making of, the movie, I was struck by one sentence.

The movie makers remarked that the essence of racing on the screen (be it the large cinema one, or the smaller TV one), is best projected by having not only great camera shots, but a knowledgeable and enthusiastic commentary team with great personalities. For this reason they enrolled FOX TV NASCAR commentator and ex-driver Darrell Waltrip to call their animated race sequences. Whatever you say or think about DW, no-one can argue that he simply loves racing and is one of the most enthusiastic broadcasters there is.

The more I thought about what the movie makers had said, the more I had to agree.

For me growing up Formula One was defined by what consider to be the best commentary team the sport has ever known, Murray Walker and James Hunt. Now I watch F1 coverage here in the US, I get as much entertainment from the banter, wit and sheer fun of Bob Varsha, David Hobbs and Steve Matchett.

What of NASCAR? Looking back I realized that I watch far more races in the half of the season when FOX is covering the races. DW, Jeff Hammond, Mike Joy and crew make the whole experience a fun four hour show – without them the races drag.

Then there’s IndyCar. A series I watch purely for the racing, in spite of the commentary team. Now that CART and IRL are back as one series, the racing is better and the series is poised to return to the glory days of American open wheel racing. But a keystone of that is a network that understands the sport (i.e. doesn’t move it around from channel to channel, often seemingly on a whim), knows how to build entertaining programming around it and has an enthusiastic, knowledgeable commentary team with personality. Would it be too much to suggest that ABC bring back Paul Page from covering NHRA drag racing to where he belongs, with IndyCars, and have Jerry Punch and a opinionated ex-driver (Dario Franchitti, Bryan Herta?) in the box alongside? – Seems like sense to me.

One thing I’ve noticed among most fans of Formula One is that they all seem to have their favorite Grand Prix. For some it’s the magic of the Monaco street circuit, for others the fast curves and history of the Italian GP at Monza, or the challenge of Spa in Belgium.

Being born, raised and sucked into the world of motor racing in England, I was lucky enough to watch F1 Grands Prix at Silverstone and Brands Hatch, as well as several European races in person; but the one race that always fascinated me was the US GP. Held at a variety of circuits each reflecting the nature and culture of different parts of the United States, it was “my race.” The one I looked forward to more than any other.

After relocating to the States I was determined to attend the US GP, the only problem, there wasn’t one. When F1 racing returned to these shores in 2000 at Indianapolis I was there. It was a culmination of two boyhood dreams in one – being at a US GP and being at Indy.

I was hoping that the US GP’s absence from this year’s F1 season would be a one off occurrence, but after the FIA issued its provisional calendar for 2009, it seems we must wait a bit longer.

To help get over my US GP blues I’ve been looking back and researching the history of the event. Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting my own personal look at the story of the United States Grand Prix here on The Speed Blog.