The penultimate round of the Formula 1 World Championship took place at Watkins Glen and the field was much as normal although Ferrari was missing team leader as John Surtees had been seriously injured when he flipped a Lola-Chevrolet T70 CanAm car at Mosport Park when he suffered a suspension failure. The accident left him with multiple injuries, including a badly broken left leg. Lorenzo Bandini thus became the team leader while Pedro Rodríguez and Bob Bondurant were entered by Luigi Chinetti's NART. Team Lotus entered a third car for Mexico's Moses Solana but otherwise the field was the same as usual. In qualifying Graham Hill took pole in his BRM while Jim Clark was second in his Lotus. Richie Ginther put his Honda F1 car third on the grid alongside Mike Spence's Lotus on the second row while Bandini shared the third row with Jackie Stewart's BRM. Jack Brabham and Dan Gurney shared the fourth row in their Brabhams.

Hill took the lead at the start with Clark chasing him while Stewart pushed his way up to third in the course of the first lap. Hill ran wide at one corner on the second lap and Clark pounced, taking the lead, but the BRM was back ahead at the end of lap five. Stewart disappeared quickly with a throttle problem leaving Bandini in third place although he fell behind Gurney and then Brabham. The weather became increasingly treacherous but Hill's position was made rather more secure when Clark went out with engine failure after just 12 laps. Gurney and Brabham then traded second place until Gurney moved ahead. Hill made a mistake on lap 38 and lost most of the advantage he had built for himself but Gurney pushed too hard and lost time, falling behind Brabham again. Brabham then made a mistake and so Gurney went ahead again. Hill then set about building up an advantage again and he won by just over 12 seconds with Gurney second and Brabham third. Bandini was fourth but he was a lap behind, while Rodríguez did a good job to finish fifth.