Another one of the early pioneers in the sport of drag racing, Gary Cagle was a man of many moods, Most of the time he was a happy go lucky individual but if he was pushed hard he could be about as tough as anyone around. He had a true love affair with racing and didn’t limit this love to just working on a car or driving it.

Like most southern California hot rodders, Cagle started out on the dry lake beds of El Mirage & the Bonneville salt flats. His fastest speed on the El Mirage 1 mile dirt course netted a 199 mph time slip, in his Fuel Chrysler belly tank in 1956.The following year at Bonneville, Cagle ran the same car to the tune of 204 mph, etching his name into the Grant piston rings 200 mph Club.

Gary started drag racing almost as soon as the old Santa Ana drag strip opened and in a variety of cars. One of his early rides was a four-banger powered rail job that he campaigned with partner Don Hampton.

While he was known as the driver of many early drag cars, Gary’s first real notoriety came while he was driving Chet Herbert’s slingshot dragster. This car was one of the very first to be fitted with a 392 Chrysler Hemi engine and a top-mounted blower. The Cagle & Herbert fuel dragster became the first car to top 180 at Bakersfield during the inaugural US Fuel & Gas Championships. The blown fueler was clocked at 180.36 mph two times in a row that day.

Driving for Herbert also gave Gary a tie in with Chet’s sister, Doris Herbert who owned and published Drag News. Gary was one of the first drag racers who decided he could make a living as a touring professional drag racer and through Doris, Gary was able to arrange for a tour of Midwestern and Eastern drag strips in the summer of 1959. The California hot-shoe started the tour out on a high note but a horrific crash at Great Bend after a 169 mph run cut short the entire tour. Cagle suffered a lot of physical damage, including one of the first known hip replacements in the U.S. and it was a long time before he recovered enough to begin racing again. When Gary was able to re-enter the drag racing wars in 1961,he did so with a series of home built fuel dragsters utilizing the 300 cubic inch Chrysler Windsor blocks, with hemi heads. A Vernon California police officer by trade, Cagle took his dragsters on the family vacations running match races & setting records in many of the western states such as Pocatello,  Idaho, Henderson Nev. Salt Lake, Half Moon Bay, Fremont, Houston,& Las Vegas. Gary also test-drove cars for fellow H.O.F. inductees, Tony Waters and Don Alderson. He drove for Mickey Thompson as well as Dean Moon, winning the middle eliminator title at the '62 Winternationals driving the Mooneyes dragster. In early 1963,Gary built one of the most memorable & most photographed machines ever, the bright yellow Newhouse Auto Parts fuel roadster. With its '23 T glass body and 299 cu. in. fuel Chrysler running through a torque converter, the Newhouse/Cagle car really shook up the west coast competitors, setting records at the above mentioned strips and often running heads-up & beating some of the hottest AA/FD teams. The car was very popular in CJ Harts 'competition eliminator' class at Lions, racing against guys like Larry Dixon Sr., Frank Pedregon Sr., & Gary Cochran who also were running modified fuel roadsters & coupes. In early 64,Gary also campaigned the gorgeous Briggs & Cagle top fueler, best know for its unique trap-door parachute system. In late 1965,the Briggs & Cagle dragster was fitted with a 23 T body,& won competition eliminator at the Hot Rod Magazine race in Riverside.

It was during this same period that Gary became one of the most outspoken leaders of the United Drag Racers Association, an organization of immense political significance in the history of drag racing. Gary helped the UDRA organization go to battle with many of the strip managers and operators over such things as safety, purses, and any other issue he believed was not in the best interest of the racers. No one ever knew Gary to back away from fighting for his beliefs when it came to racing, especially when it meant sticking up for the "little guys".

Gary Cagle walked away from drag racing cold turkey in 1967,something a lot of drag racers just cant do. According to P.J. Partridge, Gary "got lost for a couple of years".

While planning on making a return in 1971,Cagle suffered another severe setback. While riding dirt bikes with his son at El Mirage dry lake, Gary crashed & lost the use of his left arm & left eye.

It wasn't until 1975 that Cagle's Bonneville & dry lakes buddies 'came & got him', putting him to work at the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA).

While at UDRA,he had gained experience in producing successful events, and also gained a lot of knowledge while working in hot car staging at some of the AHRA's major meets. In 1976,Gary became the Chief Timer for SCTA, running the clocks for the worlds fastest speed trials. He was instrumental in keeping El Mirage dry lake open for racers so they could fulfill there speed experiments as he and so many others did in the early 50s.Gary eventually became president of SCTA in '82 & '83,and also became president of SCTA's 200 mph Club in 1988.This love affair with the SCTA was Gary's passion until the end of his life in 1994.Drag & land speed racing never made Gary Cagle a super-celebrity and it certainly never made him monetarily rich, but it did give Gary something money cannot buy, the enjoyment of participating in a sport he loved, and a man who was rich with friends.