Der Sportwagen

March / April 2014 25 ers. Once, having lept out of his careening race car then picking himself off the pavement, Mas- ten was asked why he did so. His reply, "You should of seen what I was about to hit." Race car drivers that lived to a businessman's retirement age or escaped any major injury were quite rare in that era. Helmets were first made of leather, then thin fi- berglass shells. Roll bars came on the scene gradually, but were often built too low or of weak materials. Hay bales were the "safer" barri- ers of the day, and wooden planks the Armco. Spectators received no special safety considerations either. Catch fences were mere wooden snow fences, designed more to keep crowds off the track than for deflecting cars or missil- ing parts. Riddelle continued to race state side, but family and employ- ment obligations diminished his track time. As many of us have been rumored to do, Riddelle once snuck away to full fill a racing need. Having secretly sent his car to Louisiana to enter a race, Rid- delle pulled out the old "I've got to go golf with a friend" ploy. Hav- ing his own private airplane, Rid- delle was able to fly from his home in Oklahoma, qualify in Louisi- ana, and fly back, undetected by his wife. Later that evening, Riddelle casually mentioned to his wife that he had placed high in the golf tour- naments' qualifying round, and therefore was obligated to play the next day to defend his position. The bait was taken! The next day Riddelle simply repeated his air- borne escape. Riddelle, whos' deception was rewarded with a second behind legendary Carroll Shelby, then flew home, his wife never the wiser. As with many a racer, the death of a close friend, in this in- stance Jo Bonnier, was the door that closed Masten's pro career in the early '70's. Occasionally Masten could be found behind the wheel of a blustery old vintage racer, but never more a thorough- bred racing machine. After escap- ing death on the race track for de- cades, Masten passed away in his sleep from a heart attack at the age of 53 in 1985 Riddelle continued to dabble in racing until one day he added up the number of debilitating crashes he had endured, and the number of operations in which to repair the damage. Assessing his place in life, and his physical condition, Riddelle put the brakes on his rac- ing career. This past year, Riddelle dealt with an aortic aneurism and fought successfully against cancer. In June Masten's Le Mans winning Ferrari graced the rolling land- scape of the Kansas City Art In- stitute during their annual Art of the Car Concours. Riddelle was honored that weekend as he was invited to sit on the dais alongside honored racers Sir Sterling Moss and Denise McCluggage during a question and answer session at the concours. In August Riddelle traveled to Detroit in order to see Masten ushered into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. Masten's Le Mans Ferrari again appeared, sit- ting stately by the platform. Today, at age 86, Riddelle and his wife live peacefully in Blue Springs Missouri. The Rocket has switched gears now when follow- ing racing. When I interviewed him this past January, I asked him if he had watched any of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. No he said, but he was looking forward to the Day- tona 500. The Rocket still has the need for speed. (If you would like to read more on the life of Masten, be sure to check out Michael Cox, a KC author, who pinned "Masten Greg- ory: Totally Fearless".) - Jim

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