Jesse Masters

Jesse "the Buffalo" Masters was a racing driver who competed in USAC and Formula One. He won the 1966 Indy 500 during his time in USAC and also won the 1974 Drivers' World Championship in Formula One while driving for McLaren.
== Personal Life ==
Masters was known as a heavy drinker and smoker whilst in the paddock and was sometimes hungover on the mornings of races after drinking heavily the night before.
== Racing Career ==
Masters joined USAC in 1959, achieving moderate success in the series. He would go on to win the 1966 Indianapolis 500 race before leaving to join Ferrari for the 1967 Formula One Season.
Jesse was in second place during the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix, chasing Lotus' Alexander Wilson, when Wilson crashed heavily at the chicane. The crash resulted in the death of the legendary Wilson and Masters resorted even more to alcohol to deal with having witnessed the death of Wilson.
== Death ==
Masters passed away on 8th August 1997 in Las Vegas due to liver failure. He was just days away from celebrating his 67th birthday and had planned to have a bar crawl along the Las Vegas Strip. Many doctors had tried to warn Masters that his excessive drinking would lead to health problems, but he opted to ignore their warnings. He was buried during a private funeral, attended by many of the drivers and engineers he had competed with during his time in motorsport.
Category:Drivers
Category:American
Category:F1
Category:World Champion
Category:Hall of Fame