Northeast modified racing legend Will Cagle died on Feb. 5 following a fall at his home earlier in the week. Cagle was 86.
Considered one of the greatest of the Florida modified drivers who journeyed north during the early 1960s, Cagle was inducted into the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1992.
It was the spring of 1959 when Cagle — towing north with his wife, son and a sprinter — landed on Hall of Fame car owner Lucky Jordan’s doorstep in Riverton, N.J.
When Jordan’s star driver Al Tasnady quit, Cagle got his shot and began cementing his status at tracks like Old Bridge and other Jersey and PA joints throughout the early 1960s.
Two years with Jordan and Cagle went out on his own — fielding his signature No. 24 coupes and coaches, many of which were built by fellow Hall of Famer Bob Rossell and setting the sport aflame.
When promoter Glenn Donnelly masterminded DIRT Motorsports in the 1970s, Cagle followed the money up to Central New York, becoming one of the organization’s first megastars.
Credited with 498 victories in his 33-year career, Cagle was a six-time champion at both Weedsport and Canandaigua (now Land of Legends). He won five modified titles at Rolling Wheels Raceway and five consecutive at Orange County Fair Speedway. Cagle was also Nazareth’s champion in 1967 and took top honors at East Windsor in 1969.
“The Tampa Terror” won the grueling National Open on the Langhorne (Pa) paved mile in 1966, and is a four-time winner of Orange County’s Eastern States 200.
Despite posting seven top 10 finishes in 13 attempts, including a second to Jack Johnson in 1979, DIRT’s annual classic on the Syracuse mile was the one that got away.
Following a horrific wreck at Weedsport in 1985, Cagle transitioned to track management — at Orange County from 1986–97, and later at Can-Am and Thunder Alley, and finally East Bay Raceway Park in his home state of Florida.
