WebDanny N Patsy Ongais is on Facebook. I got to spend time with Danny at the [Indy] Speedway, and I just watched him do his thing, and he was magnificent. WebI was with the first crew to reach Danny Ongais (1981) when he had his horrifying wreck. Thats the way he drove, too. Even his closest friends know little of his personal life. 32 seat vacated by the late Scott Brayton, Danny Ongais made his last start in the Indy 500 with Team Menard (IndyCar). But auto racing is unlike any other sport. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Field was part of the famed Marshall Field family, the famed owners of the department store chain in Chicago. Danny Ongais (May 21, 1942 February 26, 2022) was an American racing driver. Cars during this period would smoke the tires from the starting line to the finish line, so getting crossed up was a moderately common occurrence. ''You`ll be lucky to win $250 the whole season here,'' he was told. The 1978 Michigan victory would turn out to be the final Indy car victory of Ongais' career. Ongais and Fields success with the Interscope team also extended to sports car racing, with Field also driving. THE racing world is mourning the passing of American star Danny Ongais who has died at the age of 79. WebDanny Ongais passed away on February 26, 2022 at the age of 79. Because its so easy to get sucked into a more corporate environment. His first Indy car race was the 1976 California 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway, where he finished 28th after a crash. He decided to remain private regarding her life and relationship. That was the same year that Ongais became an Indy car winner. WebFormer Indy car, drag racing star Danny Ongais dies aged 79 Danny Ongais, a race-winner and ace qualifier in Indy car racing whose career spanned three decades died last Since arriving in the fall of 2019 at the former Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, she said she has watched Arrow McLaren grow while maintaining its gritty origins. The starting blast damaged the electronics, and the Funny Car final used a flag start, and Ongais defeated Prudhomme for the win. Though casting a wide recruitment net dovetails with McLarens progressive outlook, Ward said its also by necessity because for sure, the whole paddock has been in a fight to get the best people.. 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). Known as the 'Flyin' Hawaiian', Ongais' long career saw him excel in Indy cars, F1 and drag racing. This time they carried him away, his body broken almost beyond repair. Thats definitely not a rumor, said OWard, who is entering his fourth season of driving McLarens No. ''He studies everything he says,'' says one friend, ''but why? 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. 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. 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. He possesses in-depth Sports Journalism experience with a proven record of achievements in creating and delivering high quality engaging media content. But the fact that he could finish only eighth in the championship attests to the cars poor finishing record. 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. Daniel "Doc" Ongais | 2019 Daniel "Doc" Ongais October 11, 2019 Daniel "Doc" Ongais, 81, of Keaau, passed away on Friday, October 11, 2019 at Hilo Medical Center, born on June 10, 1938, in Olaa; he was a retired Motor Vehicle Operator for the United States Army as a Civilian worker (Federal Government) and worked for the Former Puna Sugar Company. Ongais then won the Funny Car class in the 1969 NHRA U.S. Nationals at IRP, drag racings most prestigious event, in a distinctive blue Ford Mach 1 Mustang fielded by Mickey Thompson. There are some inherent advantages for a team in IndyCar, whose 17-race schedule is more manageable than NASCAR (36 races in 37 weeks) and Formula One (which has expanded to 24 races around the globe). Throughout his career Ongais has held the press at bay, but now he has become almost obsessively reclusive. Have Harvey and RLL formed IndyCars next winning match-up? He was knocked unconscious by the heavy impact. As in any industry, networking and recruiting are cornerstones to motorsports, where big-league success is predicated as much on driver and car as the countless people who support the stars and build the machines behind the scenes for any IndyCar, NASCAR or Formula One team. 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 In the late 1950s, Ongais enlisted in the United States Army as a paratrooper stationed in Europe. Then weve got some really experienced guys from other IndyCar teams as well.. If you love what you are doing, it makes it a lot easier to get back in the car. 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 did not have any of that reputation, quite honestly. Were putting the resources behind it but trying to do it in a sustainable way thats good to the people that are working here as well and also just to have fun. 2023 Ghanafuo.com & DM Network. In 1981 at the Indianapolis 500 Danny Ongais was involved in a very serious accident on lap 63. (The fact that we share the same birthday albeit 16 years apart has nothing to do with it.). He won the American Hot Rod Association AA Gas Dragster Championship in 1963 and 1964. 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 also raced in Formula One, in 1977-78, in six Grands Prix, recording a best result of seventh. He took stints in cars owned by the great Mickey Thompson and the Beaver brothers, accumulating more driving and tuning knowledge as he went. 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. He was known as a fast and daring driver, but he experienced multiple crashes in his career, some resulting in injury. But then the wild mustangs he was driving gave way to the thoroughbreds, the ground-effects cars. What you saw is what you got. In Sundays Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Gundlach and Hackenberg (a damper specialist who also works on pit stops) will begin their third year together in the engineering department of Arrow McLaren as the team enters its most critical season yet in trying to become a perennial powerhouse championship contender. Children: He is having no children as of now. 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. 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. Ongais later attempted to race at the Marlboro 500 at Michigan International Speedway, the Nissan Indy Challenge at Tamiami Park, and the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix at Nazareth Speedway. Arrow McLaren still has done much of its hiring through the paddocks traditional word of mouth manner. Ongais had virtually lived with the Thompson family, and Campbell considered him a brother. He did things that guys like me only dream about doing. ''He says he doesn`t want to talk,'' said Penske, after making a personal plea to Ongais to grant an interview. After a 9-year hiatus from racing, Ongais was asked by John Menard to fill in for Scott Brayton who was killed during Friday Practice for the 1996 Indianapolis 500. 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. Super positive. He crashed again in 1982, and then came Thursday`s wrenching collision with the wall. Indianapolis became his bete noir. 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. He really was. He finished the season in 20th place in points. Shes a complete unicorn and super hard worker. Virtually all that is known of Ongais is a matter of public record. Daniel was born on June 10, 1938 and passed away on Friday, October 11, 2019. 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. Ongais had some of the biggest, hardest crashes in Indianapolis 500 history. We stayed friends over the years, and wed see each other at functions if he showed up. In 1978 he also made one final attempt at F1. Editor at Ghanafuo.com David Kofi Tei, is a passionate Public Relations Lead/Journalist who mostly specializes in providing a high level of research, reporting, interviewing and broadcasting skills. Ongais scored a best finish of 5th place at the Escort Warning Radars 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. He didnt talk, but he let the car speak for him.. Ongais died from congestive heart failure in Anaheim Hills, California, on February 26, 2022, at the age of 79. For those of us who saw Ongais race, he was a man who thrived on sheer, raw speed. Thats what we like to avoid doing because you lose a little of the human touch that way. He was intense and good. This coupled with his lightning-quick reflex reactions and featherlight touch allowed him to correct for it and to get to the finish line without lifting off the throttle. Have Harvey and RLL formed IndyCars next winning match-up? As good as he was on two wheels and all indications are that he was very good he was equally as good or better on four wheels and quickly won the Island Championships and Outstanding Driver of the Year awards. 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. The rides with major teams that could have been his went to less talented but more malleable men. [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). F4 Thailand Boys Over Flowers Season 1 Episode 13 Release Date and Time, Countdown, When Is It Coming Out. Although he was clipped on the chest by a flying tire from his wrecked racer and confined to Methodist Hospital in fair condition with a concussion, Ongais was hoping to be ready to remount in time to qualify on the second weekend. Over the course of his Indy 500 career, he led in four races for a We come back between most races. Im really happy to be working with (Todd) because its a different culture for her. 1 staffing priority wasnt hiring. I had probably the best race other than the one I had with AJ Foyt in 1974, but Danny and I were racing at Michigan in 1978, Rutherford told NBC Sports. 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? Type above and press Enter to search. People are hungry and people feel like were out here to do damage.. The time he spent with me was invaluable. 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. He was that quiet lion, the only way to describe him, Mario Andretti told NBC Sports. That is what you do in drag racing. [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. Even with a short 10-year stint in drag racing, Ongais was still so well regarded that he was voted No. 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. [2], Ongais was born in Kahului, Hawaii, on May 21, 1942. I think that it is very important to see that the company emphasizes bringing the right people in, and the right people are women.. Its pretty amazing to me with how involved he is with every aspect of the IndyCar organization, the F1 organization. While he did not win the Indianapolis 500, he did manage to win several IndyCar and CART races. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2000 and the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame in 2001. The tragic circumstances of an accident also led to Ongais final start at Indianapolis, in 1996. A sense of humor. The time zone changes arent quite so big. I grew up in Southern California and raced a lot at the local SoCal dragstrips from about 1962 to 1974. We have no more Information about his Father; we will try to collect information and update soon. Burny Mattinson cause of death: How did Burny Mattinson die? 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. 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. He refuses to talk about his parents or his boyhood in Hawaii. Ongais made his CART debut during the 1979 season driving the #25 Panasonic/Interscope Racing Parnelli 6C-Cosworth DFX. 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. So we just are thinking strategically on how can we find candidates with transferable skills outside our industry if we can. And its especially true during a season with the kind of expansion that Arrow McLaren has undertaken for the 2023 season. Weve got intense bits of the season. How much does an F1 car weigh in 2023 and what's included in the limit? If he was running at the end, you couldnt count him out. He quickly showed he could drive those cars as fast as anyone. We obviously have the resources to tap into and the shared knowledge of the greater McLaren Racing group. 2021 IndyCar title is just the start for Ganassi's newest star, Why Grosjean's oval commitment shows he's serious about IndyCar, Why Grosjean's title bid is serious Parents: The undercover bloggers Parents are not 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. 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 Theres one person coming in every other day, and it just becomes normality, the Swede said. Ongais final attempt at Indianapolis came in 1998, when he failed to qualify in a Team Pelfrey car. 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