It's been 38 years since Formula One had an American race winner or world champion. Jimmy Carter was president, Tom Landry's Dallas Cowboys were Super Bowl champions and Pete Rose had just recorded his 3,000th major league hit.
The driver who claimed both was Mario Andretti, winning the 1978 world championship with the iconic Lotus 79. He became the second American after Phil Hill to claim the F1 title, though his triumph -- and final victory at that year's Dutch Grand Prix -- precipitated a nearly four-decade long drought for drivers from his country.
There are several tragic parallels between Andretti and Hill's championships.