Roger Penske, while employing Ongais for the 1987 Indy 500, was unable to get the racer to speak to the press, and said of him - "His whole heart is in racing, that's his life"[13] Jim Chapman, race director at Interscope Racing stated "Nobody really knew much about him where he lived, his family, stuff like that". 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. Ill see what I can do help you out. I mean, listen I've done well in drag racing, and I've driven Top Fuel and Funny Car, but so had Danny, but he even went two or three steps further, driving an Indy car and hauling ass and in IMSA cars. In 1969, Ongais won the NHRA Spring Nationals and NHRA U.S. Nationals in the Funny Car class driving a Mickey Thompson Ford Mustang. The car broke in two and his legs were hanging out. WebDanny Ongais, the Hawaiian driver admired by fans and competitors for his speed and bravery in an Indianapolis 500 career spanning three decades, died Feb. 26 of And its especially true during a season with the kind of expansion that Arrow McLaren has undertaken for the 2023 season. So we just have to keep that, and well be all right.. He must please a sponsor, and sponsors are not pleased when they read stories about their surly driver. Its a mentality shift thats good. What you saw is what you got. Pole sitter Scott Brayton suffered fatal injuries in a post-qualifying practice crash, and team owner John Menard hired Ongais as the replacement driver. Before his championship run with Penske, Ward spent more than 12 years as an aerodynamicist and engineer with the Red Bull F1 team. Represented at Indianapolis by Thompson`s sister, Colleen Campbell, Ongais occasionally allowed himself to be interviewed. Kiels team president role essentially was split between Ward and other managers. I think the vibe is fantastic. He defeated Don Prudhomme at the 1966 HHRA Nationals Top Fuel semifinals. Ongais had no fear. He was super talented and could jump from car to car and make that car better. If he was running at the end, you couldnt count him out. How much he loves IndyCar. He was a good guy. Obviously, were very happy with what weve managed to pull together in recruiting talented people at a time where its a scrap for talent out there. I think that also helps to diversify the portfolio of talent that we have internally and the ability to learn from one another and grow as a team.. Danny Ongais, the Hawaiian driver admired for his speed and bravery in an #Indy500 career spanning three decades, died Feb. 26 in Anaheim Hills, California at 79. But because of a rule that a rookie driver had to drive the two previous Indy-car races before going to Indianapolis, his chances to debut at the famed Brickyard went up in flames. On the starting line, his rival`s car broke, spilling its oil. I think weve done a great job of that. 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. Its the best team Ive ever worked at in terms of mechanics, engineers, commercial. Danny Ongais was known as "The He decided to remain private regarding her life and Danny Ongais, the Hawaiian driver admired by fans and competitors for his speed and bravery in an Indianapolis 500 career spanning three decades, died Feb. 26 of congestive heart complications in Anaheim Hills, California. He competed Join Facebook to connect with Danny N Patsy Ongais and others you may know. Known as the 'Flyin' Hawaiian', Ongais' long career saw him excel in Indy cars, F1 and drag racing. So when this all happened, I was really We stayed friends over the years, and wed see each other at functions if he showed up. She tried so hard for him, but he wouldn`t cooperate.''. Remembering Dan Wheldon and his last and most amazing win. He was 79. Tommy Ivo and the five-second Top Fuel run that ignited a controversy, Wheelie neat! Weve really tried to stretch ourselves to find the best and the brightest no matter where they live, Scott said. A driver at Indianapolis should be big enough to run what you brung, Ongais once said. But when you look back, I think obviously marketing and that kind of stuff is becoming pretty huge in our team. ''That`s his life, racing.''. It is his and his alone. 162.144.88.63 Ongais is the main Hawaiian to compete in Hustlings Greatest Show. His death was announced by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway two days later. (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.). Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker. Chapman said that he discovered that Ongais was married and had a child for quite some time. The best season for Ongais and the Interscope team came in 1978, when he won five races and eight poles en route to an eighth-place finish in the USAC standings. Even his closest friends know little of his personal life. Kate Gundlach, a performance engineer at Arrow McLaren, was leafing through a sports car magazine a couple years ago when she stumbled upon a story about Grace Hackenberg, an Oregon-based racing engineer. First, Penske has said many times, he wants a team player. Ward said the schedule was among the reasons that engineer Ryan Kelly chose to join Rossis car after multiple seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series. He quickly showed he could drive those cars as fast as anyone. Long before Danny On the Gas Ongais became a household name across the country and around the world on television and radio as a revered IndyCar driver, he belonged to us, to the world of drag racing, where he sated his need for speed in the formative years of his motorsports career. Ongais came into the pits on lap 63 as the leader of the race, but problems during the stop caused it to drag on for a disastrous 46 seconds. WebLong before Danny Ongais became a household name as a revered IndyCar driver, he belonged to the world of drag racing, where he first sated his need for speed. But he was not an idiot going around and doing stupid things. Danny Ongais (May 21, 1942 February 26, 2022) was an American racing driver. I won the race. Linda Vaughn presented him with a diamond-studded belt buckle. The versatile Ongais made 11 Indianapolis 500 starts between 1977 and 1996, with four top-10 finishes. In 1985, Ongais also survived a spectacular barrel-roll at Michigan International Speedway after hitting the back of the slower car of Phil Krueger on the backstretch. 25 Parnelli and Penske cars powered by Cosworth engines, with a best finish of fourth in 1979 and an excellent start of second near assistant Tom Snow in 1978. Weve got a lot of new stuff that were now gelling the team and figuring out how to work together and build on the processes. For the 1986 season Ongais only ran the 1986 Indianapolis 500 for Interscope Racing. All logos and images are reserved. The only native of Hawaii to start the Indianapolis 500, Ongais was nicknamed Danny On-The-Gas and the Flyin Hawaiian for his bravery and commitment in overpowered late 70s Indy cars, but his love of speed had shown itself far earlier. Driving for Parnelli Jones, he crashed. Drag racing, that's been my life, but for Danny, it was just part of where he wanted to go, and he sure got there.. Went to victory lane and did all the smiling and pictures. He was 79. Around the same time, pole keeper Scott Brayton was killed in a training accident shortly after qualifying, and Ongais drove Braytons car, starting 33rd. In this week's Dragster Insider, friends and fellow racers remember the guy nicknamed On the Gas.. No matter how fast Ongais drove his race car, he always wanted to go even faster. Danny took home the American Hot Rod Association AA Gas Dragster Championship in 1963 and 1964. So quiet, so humble and so fast ! he asked Ongais, who was not badly hurt. As I mentioned previously, Prudhomme had some amazing things to say about Ongais, expressing a reverence that Ive seldom heard the Snake hold for other drivers. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Three pole positions swiftly followed, but the Interscope Parnelli-Cosworths unreliability prevented further triumphs. Its pretty amazing to me with how involved he is with every aspect of the IndyCar organization, the F1 organization. He loved what he was doing. 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 He did things that guys like me only dream about doing. Our car experts choose every product we feature. The caution wasnt that long, but we started side-by-side to finish the race. Ricou Browning cause of death: How did Ricou Browning die? Its more about were happy and want people to know, and word spreads that this is a place thats trying to be good to its people and gunning for the very top. I was so shocked when I heard he passed away because he was the kind of guy that's, you know, crashing Indy cars and going through so much stuff and made it though that he's gonna live forever. ''His whole heart is in racing,'' said Roger Penske, whose auto racing empire had never before embraced such a prince of darkness. I feel like its been so hard to find people in all departments. Fathers name is Not Available. Ongais and Field teamed up with success in Formula 5000 and the IndyCar Series in the late 1970s. He was later discharged and returned to Hawaii for motor racing. Im excited to see how it goes., Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Flipboard (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Though Indianapolis Motor Speedway had listed, suffered fatal injuries in a post-qualifying practice crash, Schedules, start times and how to watch the 2023 IndyCar season opener, Its crowded at the top with Ganassi and Penske drivers, organizational hierarchy was restructured, Rossis signing was followed by the arrival, was announced as a finalist for Indys Best and Brightest,. Super positive. Funny Car icon Bruce Larson: NHRA's original triple-threat Pro driver, Frank Mancuso: Some good trips and some bad ones for the 'Travel Agent' driver. Jody Scott, McLarens director of people who joined the team a year ago from Anthem, Inc. (now Elevance Health), said there was no target for the number of hires outside motorsports. 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. 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. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2000 and the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame in 2001. He checked issues of National Dragster and, noting that almost everyone was running a Chevrolet engine, dubbed his car "Chevy, Too.". Danny Ongais had a net wort estimated at $5 million dollars. There also is an appeal to being a professional sports team. Danny Ongais has That victory came one year after Thompson tried to enter Ongais into the 1968 Indianapolis 500, but Ongais was denied because he had almost no experience in open-wheel race cars. Ongais also began drag racing in the early 60s and became one of the top straight-line competitors in America into the early 1970s. For those of us who saw Ongais race, he was a man who thrived on sheer, raw speed. Copyright 1996-2023, NHRA. 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. ''He could take a car that was unmanageable and make it do what he wanted,'' says one observer. He first raced at the Arizona Republic/Jimmy Bryan 150 at Phoenix International Raceway where he qualified 4th and led for several laps only to drop out after 128 laps due to engine problems. Ongais stayed active in drag racing until 1974, when he began to heavily pursue a road racing/Indy 500 career. READ ALSO: Danny Ongais Wife - Was Danny Ongais Married? Ward said McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, who also oversees the F1 team, attended more IndyCar races last year and will continue to be a more constant presence this year as the team ramps up. He took stints in cars owned by the great Mickey Thompson and the Beaver brothers, accumulating more driving and tuning knowledge as he went. He got his licks in. Ongais` life took a wrong turn up a one-way street Thursday, when he destroyed his most precious possession. Arrow McLaren still has done much of its hiring through the paddocks traditional word of mouth manner. Latest: Mystery of Microsoft CEO Young Son Zain Nadellas Cause of Death Famous Voice Actor Kirk Baily Unfortunately Passed Away Danny Ongais Cause of Ongais final attempt at Indianapolis came in 1998, when he failed to qualify in a Team Pelfrey car. In fact, even his closest associates have little insight into his own life, as he doesnt talk about his family or his youth in Hawaii. When you want to build a high-powered racing team, software is really, really important, Ward said. Ongais final attempt at Indianapolis came in 1998, when he failed to qualify in a Team Pelfrey car. Ongais started, but his drive line broke immediately. Adding 2016 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi as a teammate to Pato OWard and Felix Rosenqvist, the team will be running three full-time cars for the first time (and a fourth Indy 500 entry for Tony Kanaan). He also competed in four Formula One races in 1977 and 1978, including two starts with Interscope, with a best finish of seventh in 1977 at the Canadian Grand Prix. Your IP: With sponsorship dollars generally on the rise in IndyCar, and manufacturer money pouring into rival series such as IMSA and F1, it likely never has been harder for hiring across U.S. motorsports. I think weve got a very good tribe of people here, and part of that includes just diversity of humans in general, Gundlach said. Danny Ongais was my hero, Mears told NBC Sports. We come back between most races. Click to reveal NASCAR 2023 at Las Vegas schedule, entry list, and how to watch, F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: How to watch on TV in the USA on ESPN, F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: How to watch on TV in the USA on ESPN When is Danny Ongais funeral? We have no more information about his spouse. I think its a more family friendly way to go racing. Russian Colonel Alexander Bespalov cause of death cause of death, wife, children, net worth, funeral, obituary, Cathal Coughlan cause of death, wife, children, Microdisney and The Fatima Mansions. Ongais ability to drive these cars near their performance limits unfortunately resulted in a couple of spectacular crashes in Indy. 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. [15] His former Indy car competitors remembered him well after his passing, with Mario Andretti calling him that quiet lion.[16], (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position). Ongais qualified 27th and finished 4th. He did his own thing. BREAKING! All we can do is look across what corporations and companies are doing when people tell us we could do better in one space or another, she said. He was 79. His racing career was paused as he served a three-year stint in the U.S. Army, where he became an elite Airborne paratrooper. 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. They teamed up with the legendary Hurley Haywood to win the Rolex 24 At Daytona in 1979 in the Interscope Porsche 935 prototype. ''I`m amazed.''. [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. He was inducted into the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame in 2001. run as the Daytona 3 Hour Continental (196263), 24 Hours of Daytona (196671/ 1973/ 1975present), This page was last edited on 26 February 2023, at 02:44. Upon joining Arrow McLaren, Ward said his No. ), Danny Ongais stepped up when @INDYCAR & I needed him most. But the fact that he could finish only eighth in the championship attests to the cars poor finishing record. pic.twitter.com/X4ZqLkQY4w, Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart) February 28, 2022. Nielsen was hard-core Ongais all the way, peppering me with facts and stats to prove his case, so, naturally, I reached out to ask for his parting thoughts on Ongais. After leaving Thompson, Ongais drove for Big John Mazmanian, who subsequently sold the team to the Vel's/Parnelli Jones Racing team in the early 1970s. How Harvey found his dream team Getting Zak more plugged into the team has been a fantastic side effect of this change, Ward said. The starting blast damaged the electronics, and the Funny Car final used a flag start, and Ongais defeated Prudhomme for the win. WebVersatile American racing driver Danny Ongais died on February 26 of congestive heart complications at age 79, it was announced Monday. Announced by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway two days later Indy car competitors remembered him well after his passing, four... A flag start, and the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame in 2001 Ongais defeated Prudhomme for the 1986 500. For Motor racing. '' of this page came up and the IndyCar Series in the Funny car final a... 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