Neal Tooley
| Neal Tooley | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 24, 1935 LeRay, New York, U.S. |
| Died | February 27, 2021 (aged 85) Evans Mills, New York, U.S. |
| Debut season | 1958 |
| Modified career | |
| Car number | 17, x37, 120 |
| Championships | 1 |
| Previous series | |
| 1966-1971 | Supermodified racing |
Neal Tooley (June 24, 1935 – February 27, 2021) was an American driver of modified and supermodified race cars. For many years he held the lap record at Trenton Speedway in New Jersey.[1]
Racing career
Neal Tooley began racing a former Don June stock car in 1958, but did not win his first of 28 career features at the Watertown Speedway, New York, until late into the 1962 season.[2] Tooley won the track championship in 1964, and then in 1966 he transitioned to supermodified cars racing primarily at Oswego Speedway, New York.[1][3][4][5]
By 1971 Tooley had returned primarily to modified racing, and went on to compete successfully at venues on both the Canadian and American sides of the St. Lawrence River, including the Capital City Speedway in Ottawa, Ontario, and in New York at Can-Am Speedway in LaFargeville, Fulton Speedway, Evans Mills Speedway, and Spencer Speedway in Williamson.[6][7][8][9] In 1971, he was able to escape serious injury in a fiery crash during the New York State Fair championship at the Syracuse Mile when a pipe penetrated his seat.[10][11]
References
- ^ a b "Neal C. Tooley". Watertown Daily Times. NY. March 3, 2021. Retrieved February 16, 2025 – via NNY360 Archives.
- ^ Stoodley, Dave (2003). The Legends of Watertown Speedway. Speedway Press. p. 160. ISBN 9780967743844.
- ^ Hunter, Bob (July 13, 1965). "Tooley trounces Watertown field". Illustrated Speedway News. Brooklyn NY. p. 9. Retrieved February 16, 2025 – via NewspaperArchive.
- ^ "Ninth Eagle Class Feature scheduled tonight". Palladium-Times. Oswego NY. July 29, 1967. p. 7. Retrieved February 16, 2025 – via NewspaperArchive.
- ^ Stoodley (2003), p. 87.
- ^ Ferlito, Jim (August 17, 1971). "Andrews and Evans capture Fulton Raceway features". Palladium-Times. Oswego NY. p. 11. Retrieved February 16, 2025 – via NewspaperArchive.
- ^ "Feature win to Tooley after pileup". Ottawa Citizen. Ontario,Canada. August 11, 1972. p. 21. Retrieved February 16, 2025 – via Ottawa Citizen Archive.
- ^ "Tooley takes home Can-Am trophies". The Post-Standard. Syracuse NY. September 15, 1975. p. 6(s-1). Retrieved February 16, 2025 – via NewspaperArchive.
- ^ Kasper, Len (2016). Spencer Speedway Legends 1957-1977. Dorrance Publishing Company. pp. 161, 163. ISBN 9781480973664.
- ^ Stoodley (2003), p. 130.
- ^ "Feature won by Diffendorf". The Post-Standard. Syracuse NY. September 7, 1971. p. 11. Retrieved February 16, 2025 – via NewspaperArchive.
