Watkins Glen: F1's rock and roll years

By Matthew Knight, CNN

Updated 1629 GMT (0029 HKT) October 21, 2016

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The unforgettable James Hunt savors victory at Watkins Glen in 1977.

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Three-time world champion Jackie Stewart says that Watkins Glen was a unique stop off for F1 drivers more used to a jet-set lifestyle and glamorous locations.

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There was tragedy too, though. Stewart's Tyrrell teammate Francois Cevert was killed after crashing during qualifying for the 1973 US Grand Prix.

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Many of the sports most famous drivers won at Watkins Glen including Canada's Gilles Villeneuve who took the checkered flag in 1979.

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Spectators would turn up in their thousands, Stewart recalls -- the Scot likened the atmosphere at Watkins Glen to a music festival.

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Mario Andretti never won the US Grand Prix at "The Glen" but he was crowned F1 world champion in 1978.

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Andretti remains the last American to win motorsport's premier race series.

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James Hunt won back-to-back US Grand Prix in 1976 -- the year he won the F1 world title -- and the following year.

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Story highlights

Watkins Glen hosted F1 from 1961-1980
Jackie Stewart won two US GP at the track
Circuit Of The Americas now hosts US GP

(CNN)For Formula One drivers, Watkins Glen International was always a little off the beaten track.

Tucked away in a tiny village on the southern tip of Seneca Lake in New York State, "The Glen," as it is affectionately known, was a world away from F1's ritzier race destinations of the 1960s and 1970s.

While the likes of the Monaco GP is played out against a simmering, sultry Mediterranean backdrop, Watkins Glen offered a backdrop of Autumn's "mellow fruitfulness."

"It was in the Finger Lakes, it was upstate New York, it was the fall -- so the glorious colors were all out ... it was a nice circuit, but it was rural America in the fullest sense and unlike all the places we would be traveling to, be it Monza (Italian Grand Prix) or Brazil," three-time F1 world champion Jackie Stewart told CNN.

But what it lacked in glamor, it more than made up for in charm.

"It was probably the most nostalgic US Grand Prix that Formula One ever had," added Stewart.

Jackie Stewart (left) at Watkins Glen in 1972.

'F1 is on hold'

The F1 circus has long since moved on -- the last US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen was held 36 years ago -- but it remains a key part of F1's north American heritage which could yet be rekindled by the sport's new owners Liberty Media who may look to increase the reach of F1 in America where IndyCar and NASCAR series, in particular, reign.