Ongais was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2000 in the Drag Racing category. For the 1987 season Interscope Racing teamed up with Team Penske getting Ongais in the #25 Panavision Penske PC-16-Ilmor-Chevrolet Indy V8 for the Indianapolis 500, however Ongais crashed in practice and suffered a concussion. To him, the hardest part of the project came in deciding on a name for the car. For the 1980 season Interscope was intending to use their own chassis with a Porsche V6 engine. His way has, in effect, betrayed his talent and denied his intellect. He was called The Flyin Hawaiian by fans, and the nicknames On-Gas and On the Gas were puns on his last name. Ongais started, but his drive line broke immediately. [2], That year he also ventured into Formula One with the Interscope team, entering the U.S. and Canadian Grands Prix at the end of the season in a year-old Penske PC4. The sad news of the death of the veteran racing driver was announced by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Arrow McLaren uses applicant tracking software to determine the best matches on background, education and experience. The group of people that are in charge (of) who joins the team, I think they know exactly what we need, and I trust theyre going to make the right decisions. View their obituary at Legacy.com flowers and lei are welcomed He is survived by wife, Patricia P. Ongais of Keaau; He never really disparaged anybody. Ongais hadnt raced since the 1986 Indy 500. Click to reveal He was the oldest driver to compete in that field, at age 54. Parents: The undercover bloggers Parents are not So its been a challenge, but Im really happy with how we managed to hit it in a short period of time. At the Indianapolis 500 Ongais crashed in practice and this put Ongais in jeopardy of not being able to compete. Danny took home the American Hot Rod Association AA Gas Dragster Championship in 1963 and 1964. In September 1968, Thompson asked Ongais to help drive a trio of '69 Mustangs one with a 302, the other two NASCAR-style 427s on the Bonneville Salt Flats and in all set 295 national and international endurance records. I think its a more family friendly way to go racing. In 1978, his most successful year in Indy car racing, Ongais won five more races,[5] at Ontario Motor Speedway, Texas World Speedway, Mosport, the Milwaukee Mile, and again at Michigan. In late 1964, Ongais moved into the nitro ranks for good, driving the Broussard-Davis-Ongais "Mangler" dragster in which he won the 1965 Grand Opening meet in his adopted hometown of Carlsbad, Calif., and later moved on to wheel the Honda of Wilmington entry in 1966 and was a dominant force in SoCal Top Fuel action, but due to his unassuming nature in addition to his well-known On the Gas nickname, he also was known as the Silent Hawaiian (and sometimes the Quiet Hawaiian) he sometimes flew under the publicity radar. He was intense and good. The team also has been aggressive outside racing. His entry was taken over by three-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser, who took the replacement machine a one-year-old show-car and made himself a four-time 500 winner. Arguably Ongais best chance to win the Indy 500 came in his mid-40s in 1987, when Interscope partnered with Team Penske to run a Penske-Chevrolet at the Memorial Day Weekend classic. I think weve got a very good tribe of people here, and part of that includes just diversity of humans in general, Gundlach said. Thats racing. Linda Vaughn presented him with a diamond-studded belt buckle. From talking to not just the people in our team, but from other drivers and friends, theyre like, Man, its hard to find people., I trust the team. For the next seven races, Ongais replaced an injured Johnny Rutherford at Patrick Racing, who had been driving the #40 Sea Ray Boats Wildcat Mk 9-Cosworth DFX. If you love what you are doing, it makes it a lot easier to get back in the car. I messaged her on Instagram, Hey, I think youre super cool, youre really killing it, and if you ever want to work in IndyCar, let me know, Gundlach told NBC Sports. The time he spent with me was invaluable. In 1964 at the first Hot Rod Magazine drag championships, Ongais reached the final in the top gas-dragster division. I think Gavin kind of feeds off that and has a similar style as well.. In 1979 he walked away from a qualifying crash at Indy, paced the garage area like a caged lion until doctors released him to drive again, then made the race. We started from a team that had always been competitive and hungry to find the very last bit, and that is still the backbone here that came from the small, really hungry team. He did things that guys like me only dream about doing. On the starting line, his rival`s car broke, spilling its oil. Right from the get-go for me, that was a high-priority item to try and spruce ourselves up. He was a good guy. And Penske said he would have a car ready for him. Actually, he was only borrowing the balky, black Panavision Penske PC16 racer he stuffed violently into the fourth-turn wall at precisely 11:44 Thursday morning. Copyright 1996-2023, NHRA. Weve got to take care of our people through those hard stretches, but for the most part, its a little less time away, the travels not quite so far. Have Harvey and RLL formed IndyCars next winning match-up? At 54, Ongais made his first start at the Brickyard in 10 years, finishing a credible seventh after starting from the rear of the field. He also won eight poles in qualifying. ''He ran her off the speedway. About three laps to go, Danny ran out of fuel, and he dropped out and that was it. All the world was a colorful Circus when Bob Gerdes painted race cars, Top Fuel dynasties: Torrence, Schumacher, Dixon, Garlits, Amato, Shirley, Beck, Some top-shelf books that every drag racing history fan should check out, Yeah, but what if? He possesses in-depth Sports Journalism experience with a proven record of achievements in creating and delivering high quality engaging media content. 1 mechanic out of F1. Ongais crashed in practice and suffered a concussion in 1987 at Indianapolis while driving for Team Penske, forcing him to miss the race. Press Esc to cancel. He was a motorcycle champion in Hawaii when he decided to come to the mainland United States and go racing. Pole sitter Scott Brayton suffered fatal injuries in a post-qualifying practice crash, and team owner John Menard hired Ongais as the replacement driver. He was fearless, Mears said. That 1978 season also included Ongais starting in the middle of the first all-200-mph front row at Indianapolis, between pole sitter Sneva and rookie Rick Mears. He was that quiet lion, the only way to describe him, Mario Andretti told NBC Sports. [10], Ongais was notoriously reclusive and a private man, rarely giving interviews and revealing little or no details of his life outside of racing. I think the vibe is fantastic. That is what you do in drag racing. He could cut a light and get down any track.. Ongais stayed active in drag racing until 1974, when he began to heavily pursue a road racing/Indy 500 career. The green flag came out, and we ran side-by-side 220 mph for about 21 laps, sashaying at each other, side-by-side. Its collegiate students wanting to grow a career. His racing career was paused as he served a three-year stint in the U.S. Army, where he became an elite Airborne paratrooper. Thompson, the onetime land speed record-holder, was campaigning a team at Indianapolis and promised to give Ongais a ride. His long and successful string of Hawaiian cars, his mentorship of drivers, and his longevity in the sport extending more recently to domination on the nostalgia circuit gave Ro my vote. Ever since he first came to the midfield from his home in Hawaii and turned racing around, Ongais has been a secret figure. They did score a memorable AHRA win at Lions Dragstrip on the fateful March 8 day that Don Garlits exploded the transmission in Swamp Rat 13, severing half of his right foot. The caution wasnt that long, but we started side-by-side to finish the race. Daniel was born on June 10, 1938 and passed away on Friday, October 11, 2019. She tried so hard for him, but he wouldn`t cooperate.''. Every so often, a guy comes along, somebody that really catches your attention, that impresses you, and, for me, he was that guy, Prudhomme said. WebOngais has been a man of mystery since he first arrived on the mainland from his native Hawaii and set the world of drag racing on its ear. He got his licks in. NHRA history: Is it real or Artificial Intelligence? At times, Ongais drove both the trademark orange Vels Mustang Funny Car and Flying Doorstop Top Fueler at the same event; in the dragster, he set the national speed record at 243.24 mph at the 1972 Supernationals at Ontario Motor Speedway in what was the sports first 240-plus-mph national record. We came together with a big hug. Ongais and Field teamed up with success in Formula 5000 and the IndyCar Series in the late 1970s. WebDanny Ongais, died Saturday, February 26, 2022, of congestive heart failure in Anaheim Hills, California, according to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway statement. Ongais also survived a spectacular barrel roll at the Michigan 500 at Michigan International Speedway when he ran into the slower car of Phil Krueger on the backstretch. Those are the nice things that people want out of family who do this.. Hes a great personality to the team. Palou happy to bounce back from crash and practice struggles, Chevrolet gratified, not satisfied by St. Pete IndyCar win, Hardwick slams flawed IMSA BoP, announces WEC plans, Hardwick slams flawed IMSA BoP Faster than he could whip a motorcycle through a turn, Ongais became a drag racer and an instant winner. We needed to fill the car communicator role, and Alex was pretty happy with (Barnhart) previously, Ward said. Interscope then bought a new Shadow chassis for him to race but he was unable to qualify at Long Beach and also in the Netherlands later in the season. WebMotor sports and racing legend Danny Ongais passed away on February 26, 2022 at 3:15pm of congestive heart failure at his home in Anaheim Hills, CA, that he shared with Racing director Gavin Ward, who oversees day-to-day operations as the direct report to McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, started last July after working as head engineer for Josef Newgarden at Team Penske. Honestly, this team comes from humble beginnings in the IndyCar world. The time zone changes arent quite so big. Shes a complete unicorn and super hard worker. When is Danny Ongais funeral? He was transported by an ambulance to a nearby hospital in a critical condition. Shes like, Absolutely. . A semi-serious look at the points battles heading to Pomona, T.V. We were about the same age, but I always thought he was older than me because he was so mysterious, said Prudhomme. And its especially true during a season with the kind of expansion that Arrow McLaren has undertaken for the 2023 season. Jim Chapman, race boss for Interscope Racing, said no one was very familiar with him. Yet he hides everything. WebDanny Ongais, a race-winner and ace qualifier in Indy car racing whose career spanned three decades died last weekend congestive heart complications By: David Malsher-Lopez People are curious about IndyCar even if theyve not been involved in the past, she said. The cars were fragile on the half shafts, and he liked to drive them hard sometimes. We let him drive my car, and his first run was as good as any I ever made. After finally leaving the pits, Ongais approached a slower car at the end of the backstretch. And I found her in a magazine and just reached out to her., ST. PETE PRIMER:Schedules, start times and how to watch the 2023 IndyCar season opener, PRESEASON POWER RANKINGS: Its crowded at the top with Ganassi and Penske drivers. At the 1981 Indianapolis 500, he was involved in a near-fatal accident that caused him to miss almost a year of racing. Ongais next drove in CART during the 1983 CART/PPG World Series season, first appearing at the 1983 Indianapolis 500. As the season progressed the Parnelli 6C (which was already a two-year-old car) started to struggle due to its age. And well-deserved. Hills, California, from congestive cardiovascular collapse, but not because of any accident. We lost this treasured piece of history last Saturday when The Flyin Hawaiian, one of the greatest exports from the 50th state, passed away from congestive heart complications at age 79. Maximizing and encouraging people to bring ideas to the table is so often overlooked in motorsports,, Rossi said. A driver at Indianapolis should be big enough to run what you brung, Ongais once said. He qualified well over the season, earning three poles, and he finished 12th in the standings. Ongais had some of the biggest, hardest crashes in Indianapolis 500 history. (Though Indianapolis Motor Speedway had listed Ongais as the only Indy 500 driver from Hawaii, Bill Alsup, the 11th-place finisher in the 1981 race also was born in Honolulu, but his racing career primarily was built in the continental U.S.). Ongais was known to be a hermit and quiet man who did not give many meetings and uncovered the least about his life outside of bullying. In the late 1950s, Ongais enlisted in the United States Army as a paratrooper stationed in Europe. ''In Hawaii,'' he huffed, ''I`d get at least $250.''. [3] When he was aged 14, he tested out motorbike racing with some success. To finish the race 14, he was that quiet lion, hardest... 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