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. Burny Mattinson cause of death: How did Burny Mattinson die? Visitation from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Wake service at 7 p.m. Visitation from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.; Celebration of Mass at 10:30 a.m. Burial at East Hawaii Veterans Cemetery No. Weve got intense bits of the season. Ongais had always expressed a desire to drive an Indianapolis 500 car. He checked issues of National Dragster and, noting that almost everyone was running a Chevrolet engine, dubbed his car "Chevy, Too.". After he was discharged, he returned to Hawaii and entered motorsports, first as the Hawaiian motorcycle champion in 1960 before switching to a drag racing career. Getting out of the car, Ongais pushed it the length of the quarter-mile dragstrip to claim the championship. In 1969, Ongais won the NHRA Spring Nationals and NHRA U.S. Nationals in the Funny Car class driving a Mickey Thompson Ford Mustang. I never want to say anyone is better than me, but I'll tell you, if anybody was better than me, it was him. Ongais` life took a wrong turn up a one-way street Thursday, when he destroyed his most precious possession. We were about the same age, but I always thought he was older than me because he was so mysterious, said Prudhomme. When you have things like that happen, and it is more of a job than a hobby, its a lot tougher to get back in the car after those things. But also building a machine of a race team that can develop all year round, not sort of go racing in the season and do development in the offseason. Ongais finished in 3rd place at the Detroit News Grand Prix at Michigan International Speedway. I think people start to realize that IndyCar is a pretty fun place to be and not a bad way to go racing, Ward said. The 'Flyin Hawaiian' was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America for drag racing in 2000. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. 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. 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. 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. But then Brian is a great resource for me, for the team. I, like many, always enjoyed watching the Top Fuel and Funny Cars when I was not racing my own car. New hires have come from Fortune 500 companies, major brands and other professional sports an eclectic roster of past employers that includes Disney, SalesForce, the Detroit Lions, Tampa Bay Rays, Republic Airlines and Boeing Defense, Space & Security (to name a few). 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. Ongais next drove in CART during the 1983 CART/PPG World Series season, first appearing at the 1983 Indianapolis 500. For the 1985 season Ongais scored a best finish of 6th at the Beatrice Indy Challenge at Tamiami Park and finished in 24th place in points. It is in this last area that Ongais has always failed. His racing career was paused as he served a three-year stint in the U.S. Army, where he became an elite Airborne paratrooper. But we are trying hard to collect all the information about him and will update you soon. Maximizing and encouraging people to bring ideas to the table is so often overlooked in motorsports,, Rossi said. He made a late pass going into turn 3. The highlight of their sports car endeavours during this time was a victory in the 1979 24 Hours of Daytona, with Ongais and Field sharing their Interscope Porsche 935 with Hurley Haywood.[6]. Before his championship run with Penske, Ward spent more than 12 years as an aerodynamicist and engineer with the Red Bull F1 team. The cars were fragile on the half shafts, and he liked to drive them hard sometimes. The guys in IndyCar racing called him The Ghost from the Coast. , (Be sure to read the end of this column for more from Prudhomme, who says some very kind and impressive things about Ongais.). ''But he broke her heart,'' says a friend. It doesnt happen overnight. Danny Ongais (May 21, 1942 February 26, 2022) was an American racing driver. Even his closest friends know little of Back to Victory Lane, Every Indy 500 Winner from the Dawn of Time, Danny Ongais, 11-Time Indianapolis 500 Racer, Rolex 24 Winner Dies at 79, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Media Service. Danny Ongais had a net wort estimated at $5 million dollars. There have been other athletes who have taken a vow of silence, most notably baseball`s Steve Carlton. The Flyin`. He never really disparaged anybody. Good grief, who can forget Jim Crawford (1990)? It would be almost 10 years before he would finally come to Indianapolis. Ongais dominated in SCCA competition in 1974, catching the eye of young media mogul Ted Field, who had recently founded the Interscope Records label. I think the vibe is fantastic. Those are the nice things that people want out of family who do this.. I dont know how hes in so many places at once, seemingly. Click to reveal I think we want people who want to be with the team, so its not so much about trying to headhunt people, he said. But then the wild mustangs he was driving gave way to the thoroughbreds, the ground-effects cars. The picture of the determined driver supplying his own horsepower made virtually every paper in the country, and it made him famous. He suffered a lot of serious crashes. How much does an F1 car weigh in 2023 and what's included in the limit? A good guy to have a conversation with. 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. At his first race of the season, the Indianapolis 500 Ongais started 16th and finished 7th. That attitude often got him in trouble, though. He possesses in-depth Sports Journalism experience with a proven record of achievements in creating and delivering high quality engaging media content. Danny Ongais, a well-known veteran of the Indianapolis 500, has not spilled any information regarding his partner. Theres one person coming in every other day, and it just becomes normality, the Swede said. He didnt talk, but he let the car speak for him.. For the 1986 season Ongais only ran the 1986 Indianapolis 500 for Interscope Racing. ''In Hawaii,'' he huffed, ''I`d get at least $250.''. 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. Danny Ongais, who risked his life routinely as part of his job even more than most auto racers died peacefully at age 79. It is his and his alone. It was a big track. Service in the U.S. Army in the early 1960s had exposed Ongais to sportscar racing in Europe, and he eventually switched his focus from dragstrips to ovals and road courses in the mid-70s. More of the same followed in 78. Another great driver from that era was three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford, who recalled one dramatic showdown with Ongais at Michigan International Speedway in the 1978 Norton Twin 200. In addition to Grace Hackenberg, Gundlach also played a role in the teams acquisition of systems engineer Lizzie Todd, who came from previous roles at Andretti and Penske. At the Indianapolis 500 Ongais crashed in practice and this put Ongais in jeopardy of not being able to compete. Rossis signing was followed by the arrival of Brian Barnhart, the former IndyCar VP of competition who called strategy in Rossis final season at Andretti (when he ended a three-year winless drought). 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. When he returned to his home state, he realized that his motorsports future was limited by the dearth of racetracks there, and he crossed the Pacific to the Mainland with fellow Hawaiian Roland Leong, where they both found employment with the Dragmaster team, then one of the most successful and prolific builders of dragster chassis. The rides with major teams that could have been his went to less talented but more malleable men. 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 really was. pic.twitter.com/X4ZqLkQY4w, Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart) February 28, 2022. We may earn money from the links on this page. Last year, we did five races in four weekends. Scott said Arrow McLaren has lost only three team members since last years Sept. 11 finale at Laguna Seca, an unheard-of number that she attributes to working hard on trying to give back to employees with extra cash and time off. After losing Saturdays AA/Dragster class final to Thompson, he beat Thompson in the final of the eliminator on Sunday, 8.39 to 8.53, to claim the big prize, then a few months later, he won the Hot Rod Magazine Championships at Riverside Raceway. 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. 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? If you embrace it for what it is, the American culture and the IndyCar experience, its a neat option for these guys. WebFormer Indy car and drag racing star Danny Ongais has died of congestive heart complications in Anaheim Hills, Calif., the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced on ''He just doesn`t want to let anyone into his life,'' says the friend. The recruitment pitch to join the Arrow McLaren IndyCar team started with the 21st century social media version of a corporate headhunters cold call. Ongais ended the season in 15th place in points. ), Danny Ongais stepped up when @INDYCAR & I needed him most. (The fact that we share the same birthday albeit 16 years apart has nothing to do with it.). His expansive Rolodex comes in handy but hasnt been key in expanding to a third car. We come back between most races. He was a tough guy, but it was fun to know him. Because its so easy to get sucked into a more corporate environment. Weve done a bit of that. From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. ''What happened?'' He really wanted to be here. 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". Thats the way he drove, too. Staffing has been a top priority at Arrow McLaren for Ward, who says he initially was nave to how hard it is to recruit for talent right now in this sport. He was 79. For the 1980 season Interscope was intending to use their own chassis with a Porsche V6 engine. Ward noted two important additions from the world of Big Data and analytics in data and strategy lead Michael Gethers (who came from Salesforce) and engineer Eric Hestekin (who arrived from Boeing Defense). Danny commenced his journey from 11 Indianapolis 500 races from 1977-96 and made many races on his name as the winner. His death was announced by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway two days later. People are hungry and people feel like were out here to do damage.. He moved up to the National Hot Rod Association AA Dragster championship and defeated the legendary Don Prudhomme in the 1966 NHRA Nationals in the Top Fuel semifinals. Ongais qualified 27th and finished 4th. 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. He also recorded the fastest lap of the race, 192.678 mph, as a rookie in 1977. In his heyday he was the Larry Mahan of racing. Ongais scored a best finish of 5th place at the Escort Warning Radars 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. We came together with a big hug. We let him drive my car, and his first run was as good as any I ever made. [7] He missed the rest of the CART year to recover in rehabilitation. By the time the broadcasting of the race ended at 11:30 PM, Ongais's condition had improved and his condition was updated to stable. They required not breaking, but gentling. Hes happy to be here; were happy to have him.. "Ongais, Danny - Drag Racing - 2000 | Inductees | Hall of Fame", "The World Championship drivers - Where are they now? 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. Ongais and Field teamed up with success in Formula 5000 and the IndyCar Series in the late 1970s. He was intense and good. People are curious about IndyCar even if theyve not been involved in the past, she said. So quiet, so humble and so fast ! View their obituary at Legacy.com flowers and lei are welcomed He is survived by wife, Patricia P. Ongais of Keaau; I grew up in Southern California and raced a lot at the local SoCal dragstrips from about 1962 to 1974. That was just his nature, Leong told me earlier this week, adding that he had first met Ongais, who was two years older than him, when they first crossed paths on the dragstrips in Hawaii and first came with Leong to the Mainland. backstretch. I think everyone in the team feels that we should perform and win instead of like, its a luxury to win. The Cosworth was hugely powerful, Ongais regularly appearing to dance the car on the rim of disaster on his way to eight pole positions, and when it hung together he tended to win: he racked up five triumphs that year. But when you look back, I think obviously marketing and that kind of stuff is becoming pretty huge in our team. We have no more Information about his Father; we will try to collect information and update soon. Date, time, venue, burial service, obituary poster, Where will be Ricou Browning buried? Rosenqvist, driver of the No. 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. But no one could deny his talent. Our car experts choose every product we feature. 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. Process always comes painfully slow, but then when you look back over a larger period of time, youre like, Oh hey, weve done a hell of a lot. . 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. In the early 1960s he started competing in drag 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. 4. 39 on the list of the Top 50 Racers in 2000, the same year that he served as the NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion grand marshal and was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. Ongais moved into circuit racing in the 1970s, working his way up the ranks in American racing through SCCA road racing with the help of Ted Field. 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. Writers soon learned never to ask a question that could be answered ''yes'' or ''no.'' Ongais raced and drove a number of Top Fuel cars in those years, including this cool-looking winged slingshot at the 1972 Winternationals. All logos and images are reserved. Ongais tried to correct the slide by turning right, and the car hooked to the right and crashed nearly head-on into the wall. And thats across the board, both commercial and operational. That comes from a focus on the culture of the team. The 1981 Indianapolis 500 was a rough race for Ongais. Thats exciting. In the same way the rodeo champion could break anything on four legs, Ongais could tame anything on four wheels. In the 1970s he moved to competing in sports cars and Indy cars, winning races in both types, including the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1979 and several Indy car races in 1977 and 1978. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker. WebVersatile American racing driver Danny Ongais died on February 26 of congestive heart complications at age 79, it was announced Monday. Ongais' outings in the various Vel's/Parnelli Jones Funny Cars were a little less successful but very exciting. 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. Timing is everything in this business and having the luck of the timing on your side, Mears said. He also raced in Formula One, in 1977-78, in six Grands Prix, recording a best result of seventh. In 1981 at the Indianapolis 500 Danny Ongais was involved in a very serious accident on lap 63. A head-on shunt in the 1981 Indy 500 left him recuperating for the remainder of the season while four years later at Michigan he went into a barrel-roll after launching off the back of another car. He then competed at the Gould Twin Dixie 125 however bad luck hit Ongais in both races. Why Grosjean's oval commitment shows he's serious about IndyCar. (Menard recalled how he knew the driver he called The Ghost from the Coast in an NBCSports.com interview last year. He did things that guys like me only dream about doing. Sometimes its easy to forget that, but I think were doing a good job here. That stems more from drag racing. One longtime observer feels that Ongais` reticence stems from a fear he will reveal a shallow understanding of the language, but actually, when he could be drawn out, he exhibited a better than average vocabulary. 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.. And Penske said he would have a car ready for him. Around the same time, pole keeper Scott Brayton was killed in a training accident shortly after qualifying, and Ongais drove Braytons car, starting 33rd. He has also interviewed a plethora of sporting personalities. Why Kyle Kirkwood is America's new IndyCar ace-in-waiting, 2021 IndyCar title is just the start for Ganassi's newest star, 2021 title just the start for Palou Despite having to start from 33rd and last and despite having retired from Indy car competition nine years earlier, Ongais drove his way to seventh. Type above and press Enter to search. He was 79. WebDanny Ongais, the only Hawaiian to drive in the Indy 500 and one of the most versatile drivers of his era, died Feb. 26 of congestive heart complications in Anaheim Hills, Your IP: He was the only guy that spoke less at functions than I did. Chapman said that he discovered that Ongais was married and had a child for quite some time. In his first motorcycle race, at Ascot Park in Gardena, Calif., he finished second and was handed his prize--$15. In 1962, Ongais was part of Leongs dragster crew at the Winternationals, where they won the Long Distance and Best Appearing awards. The Terrifying Crash of Danny "Flyin' Hawaiian" Ongais at the 1981 Indy 500 | How Did He Survive? Ongais had some of the biggest, hardest crashes in Indianapolis 500 history. 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. By 1963, Ongais had his own gas dragster, a supercharged 371 Chevy-powered budget machine cobbled together from castoff parts from other teams and manufacturers and won the AHRA Winter Championships in both 1963 and 1964. 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. The car broke in two and his legs were hanging out. He had previously been inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1992. Ongais win at Riverside was especially memorable as his dragster broke after final-round opponent Gordon Collett red-lighted, so, as was the rule back then, Ongais had to push his car the length of the quarter-mile to trip the win light. RIP Danny Ongais pic.twitter.com/AqJW32Ko2o, Arie Luyendyk (@ArieLuyendyk) March 1, 2022. WebDanny Ongais, a well-known veteran of the Indianapolis 500, has not spilled any information regarding his partner. Was Danny Ongais married? We cant say their name. They teamed up with the legendary Hurley Haywood to win the Rolex 24 At Daytona in 1979 in the Interscope Porsche 935 prototype. A writer who had followed his career closely and thought he knew Ongais fairly well visited him in the track hospital. I work really well in it, and Im excited to bring her in and experience that. While Ongais was known for his blazing speed at Indianapolis and elsewhere, he also attracted attention for surviving some of the most violent crashes of his era. We have no more Information about his Father; we will try to collect information and update soon. Danny Ongais cause of death was heart disease, not an accident Danny Ongais, the Hawaiian driver respected by fans and contenders alike for his speed and bravery north of a three-decade vocation, died February 26 in Anaheim. Wife: The blogger is not married. 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. He must please a sponsor, and sponsors are not pleased when they read stories about their surly driver. He was fearless, Mears said. This time they carried him away, his body broken almost beyond repair. So we just are thinking strategically on how can we find candidates with transferable skills outside our industry if we can. 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