Click to reveal 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. 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. 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). No information regarding his funeral ceremony has come out yet from the side of his family. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. 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. 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 We may earn money from the links on this page. The recruitment pitch to join the Arrow McLaren IndyCar team started with the 21st century social media version of a corporate headhunters cold call. Phil Burgess can be reached at[emailprotected], Hundreds of more articles like this can be found in theDRAGSTER INSIDER COLUMN ARCHIVE, Or try theRandom Dragster Insider story generator, Long 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. (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, racing at age 54 in his first 500 since 1986, finished a creditable seventh after starting from the rear of the field. If he was running at the end, you couldnt count him out. Performance & security by Cloudflare. 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. [9] Ongais finished 7th, having the best car early in the race. Ongais ability to drive these cars near their performance limits unfortunately resulted in a couple of spectacular crashes in Indy. Date, time, venue, burial service, obituary poster, Where will be Ricou Browning buried? [8] Later in the season, Interscope Racing set up a partnership between themselves and Patrick Racing giving Patrick March 83C-Cosworth DFXs. We have an ethos here where we dont necessarily want to do things the way theyve always been done in the IndyCar world. Ongais final attempt at Indianapolis came in 1998, when he failed to qualify in a Team Pelfrey car. Although Ongais won more Indy car races than any other driver that year, a combination of mechanical problems and low finishes in other races meant he would only finish 8th in the 1978 USAC Indy car championship. Went to victory lane and did all the smiling and pictures. He possesses in-depth Sports Journalism experience with a proven record of achievements in creating and delivering high quality engaging media content. On May 15, 1982, Danny Ongais qualified 9th for the Indy 500. Not sharp like Johnny Rutherford or deep like Bobby Rahal, but he`s certainly intelligent enough.''. Don Prudhomme, who met Ongais through his old pal Leong, called me early last week to weigh in on Ongais, a guy with which he carried on a relationship even after Ongais left drag racing, thanks to Prudhommes interest in and friends within IndyCar racing. Ongais died from congestive heart failure in Anaheim Hills, California, on February 26, 2022, at the age of 79. Facebook gives people the power to share and There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. In 1982, he ran on only one Indy car race, the Indianapolis 500 (which was still sanctioned by USAC). The 1978 Michigan victory would turn out to be the final Indy car victory of Ongais' career. Its the best team Ive ever worked at in terms of mechanics, engineers, commercial. Driving for Parnelli Jones, he crashed. How Liberty is "playing long game" to help F1 teams make money, Nigel Mansells greatest F1 and Indycar drives, Nigel Mansells greatest drives But we are sure that it is not available and his spouses name is not available. In the unlikeliest alliance since Rocky joined forces with Apollo Creed, Ongais had contracted to drive a single race for Penske, the May 24 Indianapolis 500. He did things that guys like me only dream about doing. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. I always wanted to be like him. Ongais started, but his drive line broke immediately. He finished runner-up in the Top Fuel class at the 1966 NHRA U.S. Nationals after beating legend Don Prudhomme in the semifinals at Indianapolis Raceway Park, and three years later he clinched the Funny Car class win in the same event. 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. 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. 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. Thompson and Ongais also teamed up to set nearly 300 national and international speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats in a Mach 1 Mustang during the 1960s. He crashed again in 1982, and then came Thursday`s wrenching collision with the wall. Nearly 50 percent of the team is comprised of engineering, commercial and finance positions with skillsets that transcend racing. When is Danny Ongais funeral? 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. Its collegiate students wanting to grow a career. [Related Insider column: Whatever came of the famed Blue Mustang?]. He really was. I personally liked the On the Gas nickname more because it was a play on his last name, and more importantly, that was the way he drove. 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. That stems more from drag racing. He had a 7th at Ontario and 5th at Phoenix and then he won his first Indy car race at Michigan International Speedway. If you embrace it for what it is, the American culture and the IndyCar experience, its a neat option for these guys. Ongais dominated in SCCA competition in 1974, catching the eye of young media mogul Ted Field, who had recently founded the Interscope Records label. In 1969 he won the NHRA Spring Nationals and NHRA U.S. Nationals in the Funny Car class driving a Ford Mustang for Mickey Thompson. RIP Danny Ongais pic.twitter.com/AqJW32Ko2o, Arie Luyendyk (@ArieLuyendyk) March 1, 2022. [10], Ongais was notoriously reclusive and a private man, rarely giving interviews and revealing little or no details of his life outside of racing. Starting last, Ongais finished 7th in what was his final 500. Danny Ongais, a Hawaii native, died Saturday of heart complications in Anaheim Hills, California, according to a news release from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. WebDanny Ongais passed away on February 26, 2022 at the age of 79. They are in relation from previous few years of a strong relationship. The rides with major teams that could have been his went to less talented but more malleable men. Ongais` life took a wrong turn up a one-way street Thursday, when he destroyed his most precious possession. The 1981 Indianapolis 500 was a rough race for Ongais. He was there to do a job. 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. Danny, the way he picked it up, was like a duck to water, Mario Andretti told NBC Sports. Ongais had virtually lived with the Thompson family, and Campbell considered him a brother. But Ward said it wasnt necessarily a driver-executive package deal. For all the problems he had getting up to speed this week, Ongais knew that any driver seated in a Roger Penske-prepared car has a chance to be the anointed one come race day. He jumped into Scotty Braytons car in the 96 Indy 500 & finished 7th after starting last at age 54! 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. But no one could deny his talent. 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. Ongais calmly drove it around to the pits where the fire was extinguished. ''He says he doesn`t want to talk,'' said Penske, after making a personal plea to Ongais to grant an interview. He also competed in four Formula 1 races in 1977 and 1978, including two starts with Interscope, with a best finish of seventh in the 77 Canadian Grand Prix. 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. Ongais is the only native of Hawaii to start in The Greatest Spectacle in Racing. Fans included his heritage in his nickname The Flyin Hawaiian, and nicknames On-Gas and On the Gas were word plays on his last name. [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. Longtime followers of this column are well aware of Ongais greatest quarter-mile accomplishments behind the wheel of Mickey Thompsons Mustang Funny Car in 1969, but his love of going fast was deeply rooted long before then. 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. He never left anything on the table, I can tell you that. Was Danny Ongais married? So we just have to keep that, and well be all right.. Born in 1942 in the wake of the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, Ongais grew up in Kahului on the island of Maui, and he raced BSA motorcycles as a teenager before he was introduced to the dragstrip by some friends. In the same way the rodeo champion could break anything on four legs, Ongais could tame anything on four wheels. Even his closest friends know little of his personal life. Autoweek participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Ill see what I can do help you out. A writer who had followed his career closely and thought he knew Ongais fairly well visited him in the track hospital. ), Danny Ongais stepped up when @INDYCAR & I needed him most. He seldom lifted no matter how crossed up and sideways the car got. Sulley Muntari, Agyeman Badu, Asamoah Gyan, others visit Christian Atsus family home, VIDEO: Government will be fully involved in providing Christian Atsu a befitting burial Dr. Bawumia, Christian Atsus mortal remains arrive in Ghana via Turkish Airlines, Maybe I created enemies along the line Kofi Amoabeng on UT Banks collapse, Christian Atsu was one of Ghanas finest personnel Akufo-Addo, This is some food chain story Archipalago shamed for chasing clout with Christian Atsus death. 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.. Thats just his makeup, the way he was. He would get an award, step up to the microphone and just say, Thank you and then sit down. In this 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. We come back between most races. 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