Neal Tooley

Always a hard worker, Neal went to work for Smith’s Transport and NY Air Brake before going into business for himself. In the mid-1980s, Neal started The Tooley Trucking company and opened Jefferson Heights Quarry, a stone quarry & delivery service. In 1999, he sold the quarry to pursue heavy equipment construction. Neal owned and operated Neal Tooley Construction which specialized in local trucking and construction site work which he did right up until his passing.
When he wasn’t working, Neal pursued his lifelong passion with race cars. Starting in the early 60's, Neal quickly gained a reputation for an aggressive driving style that earned him the nickname “Terrible” Tooley that would stick with him for the rest of his life. “Terrible” Tooley earned the first of many feature wins at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds on August 25th, 1962. Always running toward the front, Neal is 3rd in feature wins at Watertown Speedway and won the points title there in 1965. Looking for new challenges, Neal transitioned to super-modified cars at Oswego Speedway in 1966. Neal’s long racing career produced many memories from a lap record in Trenton, NJ that stood for many years to a fiery wreck at the Syracuse Fairgrounds that left Neal walking away unharmed with a pipe sticking through the center of his car.