(
February 29 ,
1932 -
November 8 ,
1985 ) was a
Formula One /sports car driver from
The United States . He participated in 42 grands prix, debuting on
May 19 ,
1957 . He achieved 3 podiums, and scored a total of 24 championship points.
Known as the "Kansas City Flash", Masten Gregory was born in
Kansas City ,
Missouri as the youngest of three children (brother Riddelle L. Gregory Jr, sister Nancy James) and heir to an insurance company fortune. Gregory was well known for his youngish looks and thick
Eyeglasses , due to his "terrible" eyesight. Although he attended the
Pembroke-Country Day School in Kansas City, he left school before completing his senior year, and married Luella Hewitt at the age of 19. His father died when he was 3 years old, and Gregory used his inheritance to buy a
Mercury -powered
Allard , which he drove in his first race, the 50-
Mile SCCA race in
Caddo Mills ,
Texas in
November 1952 . He retired from that race due to head gasket failure, but installed a new engine in his car to race at
Sebring in
1953 , where he again retired, this time due to a rear
Suspension failure. Gregory's first win came in just his third race, in
Stillwater ,
Oklahoma . Changing to a
Jaguar , Gregory won several races in America, including the
Guardsmans Trophy in
Golden Gate Park ,
San Francisco and a race at
Offutt Air Force Base in
Omaha ,
Nebraska . At the end of 1953, Gregory was invited to his first international sports car race - the
Argentine 1000
Km in
Buenos Aires , which he finished in 14th due to water pump problems.
Throughout
1954 and
1955 , Gregory competed in
European races, including the
Tourist Trophy at
Dundrod and
Le Mans (although his co-driver
Mike Sparken retired before Gregory got a chance to drive). Moving back to America in
1956 , Gregory entered several SCCA races, often winning. In
1957 , he had another attempt at the Argentine 1000 km race, this time winning. This performance got him a drive with
Mimo Dei 's
Scuderia Central Sud , a privateer
Formula One team using the
Maserati 250F. His first race was the
1957 Monaco Grand Prix , where he scored an impressive 3rd place finish, the first podium for an American in F1. He followed this with a string of good results, coming 8th in the
German Grand Prix , and 4th in both the
Pescara and
Italian Grands Prix. Despite only competing in half of the races, Gregory ended the
1957 Season in 6th place in the championship.
Gregory only competed in four Grands Prix in the
1958 Season , due to injuries sustained through one of his trademark bailouts when his car was set to crash, this time in a sports car race at
Silverstone in
England . He did manage a 4th place at the
Italian Grand Prix , and a 6th in the last race of the year, this
Moroccan Grand Prix . Moving to
Cooper -
Climax for the
1959 Season alongside
Jack Brabham and
Bruce McLaren , he scored two podium finishes - a 3rd place at the
Dutch Grand Prix , and a career-best 2nd at the
Portuguese Grand Prix . However, he missed the final two races of the season, again due to injuries sustained jumping from a car moments before it crashed. He finished 8th in the Championship, and with teammate Brabham winning the
World Championship , Cooper won their first Constructor's Championship. Gregory scored a
Pole Position and set a course record at the non-Championship race at
Aintree , but his contract with Cooper was not renewed for the following year.
Gregory continued in Formula One until
1965 , but mainly with uncompetitive independent teams. He was unable to reproduce the results he obtained early in his career, his best being a 6th at the
1962 United States Grand Prix at
Watkins Glen with the
UDT Laystall team, in a
Lotus 24. Running 4th, just behind eventual winner
Dan Gurney at the
French Grand Prix , Gregory retired with ignition problems, losing possibly his best chance at a maiden Grand Prix victory. Gregory did manage a win in the non-Championship Kannonloppet race at
Karlskoga in
Sweden , but this race only featured six drivers (only four of whom finished), and no top teams.
After his release from Cooper, Gregory also went back to competing in sports car races, setting the overall fastest lap at the
1960 24 Hours Of Le Mans . He won the
1961 1000 km race at the
Nürburgring Nordschleife , driving alongside
Lloyd "Lucky" Casner in a Maserati. In the same year, Gregory finished 5th in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a
Porsche RS61 Spyder .
1962 saw Gregory win the
Canadian Grand Prix sports car race at
Mosport Park in a
Lotus 19 -Climax. In
1964 , Gregory again competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, this time in a
Ford GT40 . He retired from the race in the 5th hour due to
Gearbox difficulties. The following year, Gregory teamed up with
1970 Formula One World Champion,
Austria n
Jochen Rindt , and the pair won the race in a North American Racing Team
Ferrari 275 . 1965 was also the first year in which Gregory raced in the
Indianapolis 500 , starting from the back of the grid and working his way up to 5th before being forced to retire due to an engine problem.
Gregory then began to wind down his motor racing career, continuing to compete in international sports car races with some good results including a second-place finish at the
1966 1000 km race at
Monza alongside
John Whitmore . Following his good friend
Jo Bonnier 's death at the
1972 Le Mans race, Gregory stopped racing, and retired to
Amsterdam , where he worked as a
Diamond merchant before operating a glassware business. On November 8, 1985, Gregory died in his sleep of a
Heart Attack at his
Winter home in
Porto Ercole ,
Italy . He had three children, Debbie, Scott and Michael. Gregory was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in
2005 .
(Note: grands prix in denote '''points scoring''' races.)
