Words by Troy Cagle
Photos courtesy the author

Gary Cagle was one of the early pioneers of drag racing, starting on the dry lake beds of El Mirage and the Bonneville Salt Flats back in the 1950s. He was a regular at the old Santa Ana, California, strip when it first opened. He first gained publicity as the driver of Chet Herbert’s slingshot dragster. The Cagle & Herbert fuel dragster was the first car to top 180 mph (180.36) during the inaugural U.S. Fuel & Gas Championship at Bakersfield.

During a tour of the Midwest, the Vernon, California, police officer had a terrible crash at Great Bend, Kansas, in 1959, after which he received one of the first known hip replacements in the U.S.

After a lengthy recuperation, in 1963 he built the Newhouse Auto Parts dragster, which set many records at the California drag strips. He also was a leader of the United Drag Racers Association. He walked away from drag racing in 1967.

While planning a return in 1971, Cagle had an accident while riding a dirt bike at El Mirage and lost the use of his left arm and left eye.

He went to work for the Southern California Timing Association in 1975 and the following year became Chief Timer for the association. He was SCTA president in 1982-93. He died in 1994.  (Our thanks to www.nitrogeezers.com for the background information.)