Masten
Gregory

Masten Gregory was born on 29 February 1932 in Kansas City, Missouri, and became known as the "Kansas City Flash". He made his racing debut in November 1952 at Caddo Mills, Texas, in an Allard, but retired with a head gasket failure. His first win came in only his third race, at Stillwater, Oklahoma, and he went on to win several more races in the United States with a Jaguar. In 1954 and 1955 he raced in Europe, mostly in Ferraris, and he won the first Nassau Trophy in the Bahamas in 1954. In 1957 he won the 1000 km race in Buenos Aires.

That win led to a drive with the privateer team Scuderia Centro Sud, which ran a Maserati 250F. In his first world championship race, the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix, he finished third, the first podium for an American in a Formula One Grand Prix. He ended that season sixth in the standings, his best championship position. He stayed with Maserati in 1958. In 1959 he moved to Cooper, took third place in the Netherlands and second in Portugal, and finished the championship in ninth place. Cooper won its first constructors' title that year.

From 1960 to 1965 Gregory drove mainly for independent teams, including cars from Behra-Porsche, Lotus, Lola and finally BRM. He could not match the results of his early seasons. His best finish in this period was sixth at the 1962 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, in a Lotus 24 run by UDT Laystall. He made 38 starts with three podiums and no wins. Outside the championship, he won the 1962 Kanonloppet at Karlskoga.

In sports car racing he won the 1961 Nürburgring 1000 km with Lloyd Casner in a Maserati. In 1965 he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Jochen Rindt in a North American Racing Team Ferrari 250 LM. That year he also started the Indianapolis 500, but retired with an engine problem. Having competed at Indianapolis, Le Mans and Monaco and won at Le Mans, he is among the drivers who took part in all three events of the Triple Crown of Motorsport and won at least one of them. He stopped racing after the 1972 Le Mans race. Gregory died in 1985 and was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2013.

Source: Wikipedia, “Masten Gregory”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.