again. Reutemann kept pace as well, two to three seconds behind Hunt, until he lost nine seconds attempting to lap Graham Hill. From then on, he ran a lonely race to a third-place finish. Revson, meanwhile, was rocketing through the field from his last place start, and at the midway point, he had gone from twenty-third to seventh. He took sixth from Emerson on lap 40 when the Brazilian pitted to replace his front tyres that were flat-spotted when he had to avoid a spinning Scheckter. For the last 15 laps, Hunt continued to follow Peterson, between .7 and 1.4 seconds behind. He pulled alongside at one point, but could not finish the pass. "I looked over at Ronnie, and he looked fiercer than me," he explained after the race. Hunt had decided to bide his time until the final 10 laps, then make a bid to pass Peterson, but his car developed oversteer with a lightening fuel load. This kept him from taking the final corner before the back straight flat out, and effectively took away his speed advantage. He maintained the challenge to the flag, however, setting the fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap. Peterson's winning margin of 0.688 seconds was the smallest in United States Grand Prix history until 2002. Reutemann had to weave to the line, virtually out of fuel, but held on to third; Denny Hulme ran a steady race to fourth; Revson made it up to fifth with his splendid drive from last place; and Emerson Fittipaldi took sixth after having to stop for tyres. Having already secured the Manufacturers' Cup following Tyrrell's withdrawal, Lotus finished ten points ahead, despite Stewart taking the Drivers' Championship for Tyrrell. Classification Qualifying Race Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Constructors' Championship standings References Further reading Doug Nye (1978). The United States Grand Prix and Grand Prize Races, 1908-1977. B. T. Batsford. "15th U.S. Grand Prix: Easy One For Ronnie". (January, 1974). Road & Track, 64-67. United States Grand Prix United States Grand Prix United States Grand Prix United States Grand Prix United States Grand Prix