28 March: Today in Racing

Clay Regazzoni took pole position and set the fastest lap en route to a dominant Formula 1 United States Grand Prix West victory ahead of Ferrari teammate Niki Lauda and Patrick Depallier a lap adrift in a Tyrrell as only five cars finished the race on the Long Beach California street circuit on this day in 1976.

A safety car was used for the first time in modern era F1 for eight laps in the 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix after several incidents in the rain left the track littered with debris. That and a stop-go penalty failed to stop Ayrton Senna from taking McLaren's 100th race win from Damon Hill, who scored his first podium in a Williams, while Michael Andretti and Gerhard Berger survived a spectacular cartwheeling first lap crash unscathed.

It was far more straightforward when Jenson Button drove his McLaren-Mercedes to 2010 Australian Grand Prix victory over Robert Kubica’s Renault abnd Felipe Massa in the Ferrari. There was a once of non-championship F1 race in Ontario, Canada on this day in 1971, where Mario Andretti drove his Ferrari to win the Questor Grand Prix from Jackie Stewart’s Tyrrell and Denny Hulme in a McLaren,.

Other major race action on this day included Louis Disbrow’s 1911 Jacksonville Beach AAA Champ Car win in a Pope-Hartford, Aymo Maggi winning the 1926 Rome Royal Grand Prix and Tazio Nuvolari the Pozzo Grand Prix, both driving Bugatti T35Cs, while Oscar Galve won the  Argentine Playas de Necochean in an Alfa Romeo 308. In US Indycars, Don Branson and Al Unser won the 1965 and ’70 Jimmy Bryan races, Rick Mears, Adrian Fernandez and Scott Goodyear all found IRL success on the day

Dick Rathman came from last to first to win the 125-mile 1954 Oakland NASCAR Grand National, while David Pearson won in both 1960 and ’64, before Cale Yarborough, Dale Earnhardt, Terry Labonte and Kurt Busch all took NASCAR Cup wins on this day. Aussies Allan Grice, Allan Moffat, Mark Skaife and Craig Lowndes also all won in Touring Car races down under.

Lorraine Barrow set a 72-second standing-start-mile record in his Mercedes at the 1901 Week of Speed, while S Knapp won the 120km Tourist Race in a Daimler at the Nice event and Louis Rigolly took 1904 honours driving a Gobron-Brillie. Touring car driver Hubert Hahne, Monte Carlo Rally winner Bernard Darniche and single seater star Tony Brise were born on this day, while D Ndahura died, when his car was swept away in a flash flood the 1970 East Africa Safari in Uganda and former FIA president Jean-Marie Balestre passed aged 86 in 2008. (Photo: PIrelli)