5 replies to this topic

[Joe Fan]

I would everyone to please reconsider one of your votes in the Pantheon election. You can edit your own thread and change your vote up until the 16th of May. I would like everyone to please reconsider one of your votes for Masten Gregory because it is the only thing that I can do for his 73 year old brother this year to bring honor to a truly deserving pioneer that has never received the credit he was due.

If you haven't already read in my "He was the fastest American to ever go over and race a Grand Prix car" thread, I am trying to get Masten inducted into the Kansas City Sports Walk of Stars. It is ridiculous that a driver of his caliber that is from Kansas City isn't even on the ballot when a former local sportswriter and a local fisherman who had a Fisherman TV Show is. Check out www.kcmetrosports.com Since he isn't on the ballot, Masten cannot make it this year so I will have to organize an effort to get him inducted next May.

Having Masten inducted into the Kansas City Sports Walk of Stars would help bring some respectability to F1 and motorsports in general to my area and you can always vote for one of the other drivers next year. If Masten were inducted into the Atlas F1 Pantheon of Racers, it would lend credibility to my cause.

Don't vote for Masten for me, do it because he is worthy and most of all, do it for Masten's family. I could tell that this means quite a bit to him and I assured him that I would eventually get Masten in and that I felt that it was almost a done deal for next year.

As one of the very first full-time American drivers in F1, Masten never reaped any of the fame of the others who followed. He no doubt helped pave the way for Phil Hill, Dan Gurney, Richie Ginther, and others in the sport with his 1957 rookie performance, finishing 6th in the WDC points and only competing in half of the races. Many F1 fans think highly of Dan Gurney and he is on quite a few of your Pantheon lists(including mine) but in head to head competition between Masten, Masten finished ahead of Gurney more often in the races they both competed in together with Masten having double the amount of retirements. Go to: www.planet-f1.com/drivers/head2head.html/f1/ENG and see for yourselves. Jim Clark said he feared Dan Gurney more than any other driver he raced against but in Eric Dymock's book on Jim Clark, Clark considered Masten to be his hero. That says quite a bit there to me along with what Carroll Shelby, Dan Gurney, Phil Hill and Stirling Moss thought of Masten's talents. They all had held very high opinions of him. Masten never really had great equipment in F1, some of this I believe was due to the fact that he was probably was prejudged by F1 owners since he wore glasses and strangely jumped out of cars that were surely going to crash. All I can say that these crashes weren't his fault and that he lived where he might have died or lost his legs.

Here is something I found in a Road and Track article on Masten written by James Sitz:

"Gregory crashed a number of cars, but with remarkably good fortune, he walked away unscratched. Some critics felt his crashes harmed his career, in addition to his aggressive style made him faster than many European drivers and this, together with his having the means to indulge himself, caused some jealousy."

"His passing was little noted by the press. As an American he had been ahead of his time competing in Europe and he did not attain the fame of those who followed. Such a fine driver deserved much greater recognition."


Like I said earlier, is there at least one vote for a driver on your list now that could wait until next year? This would mean a lot to me but more to Masten's family and honoring those who have since passed is really for the living anyway.



[This message has been edited by Joe Fan (edited 05-12-2000).]

[Statesidefan]

OK Joe. I dropped Bellof for this year, but it pained me. Now I want you to go 30 days without mentioning NASCAR!!

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"The strategy of a Formula One race is very simple. It's flat out from the minute the flag drops." Mario Andretti 1976

[Fast One]

Count me in, Joe, but you have to agree never to vote for Gilles Villeneuve, and add 30 more days to the time you may not mention NASCAR!!!

[Joe Fan]

Thanks guys! It is a deal as long as you guys don't mention the N-word.

[f li]

Joe,

Now, about the GT-40's heritage ---

[Joe Fan]

f li, you are too funny. But I would like to note that Masten was one of the very first drivers tapped by Ford to race the GT40 at Le Mans in 1964. Masten/Richie Ginther, Phil Hill/Bruce McLaren, and Richard Attwood/Jo Schlesser. The Gregory/Ginther GT40 was running second into the evening before having to retire due to gearbox problems.

One other thing, when it comes right down to it Masten was the first American to compete on a full-time basis in F1. Harry Schell is noted to be the first but he was American only on paper as he was raised in France and English was really a second language to him. Like I said in another thread, Masten, Carrol Shelby and Phil Hill all competed in various sports car races in the U.S. before they raced over in Europe and abroad and Masten was the first out of the three to get a F1 ride.

According to Masten's brother, several rather high profile former competitors have inquired about writing a book on Masten. That says quite a bit there to me.