23 Facts About Masten Gregory

Masten Gregory was an American racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1957 to 1965.

Masten Gregory participated in 43 Formula One Grands Prix, predominantly with privateer teams; he competed in numerous non-championship races, winning the 1962 Kanonloppet with BRP.

Masten Gregory was successful in sportscar racing, entering 16 editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans between 1955 and 1972, winning in 1965 alongside Jochen Rindt, driving the Ferrari 250LM.

An heir to an insurance company fortune, Masten Gregory was well known for his youngish looks and thick eyeglasses, due to his "terrible" eyesight.

Masten Gregory's parents divorced when he was very young, and his father died when he was three years old.

Masten Gregory retired from that race due to head gasket failure, but installed a new Chrysler hemi-powered engine in his car to race at Sebring in 1953, where he again retired, this time due to a rear suspension failure.

Masten Gregory's record includes the Tourist Trophy at Dundrod and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Masten Gregory won the inaugural Nassau Trophy at the Bahamas Speed Week in 1954.

Masten Gregory followed this with a string of good results, coming eighth in the German Grand Prix, and fourth in both the Pescara and Italian Grands Prix.

Masten 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.

Masten Gregory did manage a fourth place at the Italian Grand Prix, and a 6th in the last race of the year, this Moroccan Grand Prix.

Masten Gregory finished eighth in the Championship, and with teammate Brabham winning the World Championship, Cooper won their first Constructor's Championship.

Masten 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.

Masten Gregory flipped a thankfully rollbar-equipped Maserati at the Venezuelan Grand Prix in 1957, totalled two sports cars in 1958, and another two in 1959.

Masten Gregory continued in Formula One until 1965, but mainly with uncompetitive independent teams.

Masten Gregory was unable to reproduce the results he obtained early in his career, his best being a sixth at the 1962 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen with the UDT Laystall team, in a Lotus 24.

Masten Gregory did manage a win in the non-Championship 1962 Kanonloppet race at Karlskoga in Sweden, but this race did not feature any top teams.

Masten Gregory won the 1961 1000 km Nurburgring, driving alongside Lloyd "Lucky" Casner in a Maserati Tipo 61 for the America Camoradi Racing Team.

In 1964, Masten Gregory again competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, this time in a Ford GT40.

Masten Gregory retired from the race in the fifth hour due to gearbox difficulties.

On November 8,1985, Masten Gregory died in his sleep of a heart attack at his winter home in Porto Ercole, Italy.

Masten Gregory was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2013.

Masten Gregory is in a distinct club of motorsport being only one of nineteen drivers to compete in all three legs of the Triple Crown of Motorsport and to have won at least one of those events.