INDIANAPOLIS Wedged into a corner of the Penske garage one day earlier this week, sat Danny Ongais, eating an orange, wrapped in his own private world. A look at seven decades of wild, wheelstanding crowdpleasers, Altered States, Part 2: Breakage, tears, and fears, but ultimately a success story, Altered States: Fear and loathing (and a lot of thrills) on the quarter-mile, Ed 'the Outlaw' Jones: Living life on two wheels for more than 45 years, You never know with nitro: A look back at seven great Funny Car upset wins, Everyone loves an underdog: Here's a list of five great Top Fuel upsets, 30 years ago: The 1992 NHRA season was a year full of historic firsts, Female Pro Stock pioneer Shay Nichols: A life well lived (and then some), Magnificent Seven: A history of female racers in NHRA Pro Stock competition, On the Gas: The drag racing life and times of Danny Ongais, By The Numbers: Pro Stock readies for 900th event 'birthday' in Pomona, That was then, this is now: A look back at the NHRA season 50 years ago. On May 15, 1982, Danny Ongais qualified 9th for the Indy 500. The success of Ongais and Field with the Interscope team also extended to sports car racing, with Field also driving. Linda Vaughn presented him with a diamond-studded belt buckle. He finished runner-up to Mike Snively in the Top Fuel class at the 1966 NHRA U.S. Nationals after beating the legendary Don The Snake Prudhomme in the semifinals at Indianapolis Raceway Park. 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. Thompson, the onetime land speed record-holder, was campaigning a team at Indianapolis and promised to give Ongais a ride. 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 may yet get that chance. They required not breaking, but gentling. The time zone changes arent quite so big. How Marcus Ericsson finally unlocked his potential in IndyCar, Remembering Dan Wheldon and his last and most amazing win, Dan Wheldon and his amazing last win Weve got all these new people, all this new equipment, Ward said. People get to see how much enthusiasm Zak brings. Service in the U.S. Army in the early 1960s exposed Ongais to sports car racing in Europe, and he moved from dragstrips to ovals and road courses in the mid-1970s. At the 1981 Indianapolis 500, he was involved in a near-fatal accident that caused him to miss almost a year of racing. [9] Ongais finished 7th, having the best car early in the race. WebDanny N Patsy Ongais is on Facebook. Maximizing and encouraging people to bring ideas to the table is so often overlooked in motorsports,, Rossi said. Ongais died from congestive heart failure in Anaheim Hills, California, on February 26, 2022, at the age of 79. It doesnt happen overnight. 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. We obviously have the resources to tap into and the shared knowledge of the greater McLaren Racing group. His racing career was paused as he served a three-year stint in the U.S. Army, where he became an elite Airborne paratrooper. Whether its grabbing a badass mechanic out of World of Outlaws and introducing them to IndyCar. (Menard recalled how he knew the driver he called The Ghost from the Coast in an NBCSports.com interview last year. Ongais Indy 500 career ended with him leading in four races for 79 total laps. For a few years Ongais had an uneasy truce with the press, but even that evaporated when Colleen Campbell left him. F4 Thailand Boys Over Flowers Season 1 Episode 13 Release Date and Time, Countdown, When Is It Coming Out. The cars were fragile on the half shafts, and he liked to drive them hard sometimes. 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. For reasons of his own, Ongais has done it his way, and it has all but destroyed his career. Danny commenced his journey from 11 Indianapolis 500 races from 1977-96 and made many races on his name as the winner. His first Indy car race was the 1976 California 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway, where he finished 28th after a crash. Press Esc to cancel. The IndyCar team since has been integrated with McLaren Racings F1 operations, which naturally led to some growing pains. Ongais started in 21st place and retired with mechanical problems. The versatile Ongais made 11 #Indy500 starts, with four top-10 finishes. RIP Danny Ongais pic.twitter.com/AqJW32Ko2o, Arie Luyendyk (@ArieLuyendyk) March 1, 2022. 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 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. He was a good guy. While practicing for his first Indy-car race at Hanford, Calif., his car caught fire on the. 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. Gundlach, who recently was announced as a finalist for Indys Best and Brightest, previously worked cars that won two championships with Scott Dixon at Ganassi. Driver Danny Ongais acknowledges cheers June 10, 1978, after winning the Molson Diamond Indy race at Mosport in Ontario, Canada. Its the best team Ive ever worked at in terms of mechanics, engineers, commercial. Getting Zak more plugged into the team has been a fantastic side effect of this change, Ward said. He did not have any of that reputation, quite honestly. Usually, however, he spent words as if they were pearls. He did things that guys like me only dream about doing. Ongais had virtually lived with the Thompson family, and Campbell considered him a brother. [2], Ongais was born in Kahului, Hawaii, on May 21, 1942. He won the American Hot Rod Association AA Gas Dragster Championship in 1963 and 1964. 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. Represented at Indianapolis by Thompson`s sister, Colleen Campbell, Ongais occasionally allowed himself to be interviewed. They dominated the season, winning the Bakersfield March Meet, Orange Countys Manufacturer's Meet, and the NHRA Springnationals and U.S. Nationals. He was later discharged and returned to Hawaii for motor racing. Officials had to cut open the car to help Ongais out. He also raced in Formula One, in 1977-78, in six Grands Prix, recording a best result of seventh. Weve got a lot of positivity. Shes a complete unicorn and super hard worker. I do think he was one of the best drivers out there. Faster than he could whip a motorcycle through a turn, Ongais became a drag racer and an instant winner. I got down off the stand and went down to meet him. Ongais died Feb. 26, 2022 from congestive heart failure in Anaheim Hills, California. The 1978 Michigan victory would turn out to be the final Indy car victory of Ongais' career. He was known as a fast and daring driver, but he experienced multiple crashes in his career, some resulting in injury. 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. 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 raced and drove a number of Top Fuel cars in those years, including this cool-looking winged slingshot at the 1972 Winternationals. He didnt talk, but he let the car speak for him.. How much does an F1 car weigh in 2023 and what's included in the limit? He was fearless, Mears said. I got to spend time with Danny at the [Indy] Speedway, and I just watched him do his thing, and he was magnificent. 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 He was a tough guy, but it was fun to know him. ''He just doesn`t want to let anyone into his life,'' says the friend. Ongais calmly drove it around to the pits where the fire was extinguished. Switching to the top-fuel category, he racked up an eight-month winning streak, toured Europe and became the first driver ever to hit 200 miles an hour on a British dragstrip. He was fast. He refuses to talk about his parents or his boyhood in Hawaii. Just like the U.S. business world since the Great Resignation of 2020-21, one of the loudest narratives in racing has been the difficulty of hiring and keeping strong personnel since the COVID-19 pandemic upended the worlds workforce. After a long pit stop, Ongais hit the Brickyard hard to make up for the 46-second stop. Its collegiate students wanting to grow a career. The versatile Ongais made 11 Indianapolis 500 starts between 1977 and 1996, with four top-10 finishes. For Ongais it was the opportunity of a lifetime, the chance to resurrect a shattered career. 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. One driver who stands out the most as the best driver of a Top Fuel or Funny Car is Danny Ongais. That is the reason why he got into the wall so often.. 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 and Fields success with the Interscope team also extended to sports car racing, with Field also driving. The versatile Ongais made 11 Indianapolis 500 starts between 1977 and 1996, with four top-10 finishes. 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). Under qualifying rules he had to start 33rd. He makes an effort to keep everyone up to date from top to bottom as to where things are, what the current objectives are and whats the future look like. Remembering Dan Wheldon and his last and most amazing win. 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.). The starting blast damaged the electronics, and the Funny Car final used a flag start, and Ongais defeated Prudhomme for the win. He entered the season with the Ensign team, in a year-old N177 chassis, and retired in Argentina and Brazil with brake problems. Penske looks for three things when hiring a driver, and the ability to go fast is the last of the three. Danny completed 10th place in his last race in 1996. The rides with major teams that could have been his went to less talented but more malleable men. 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. At the Indianapolis 500 Ongais crashed in practice and this put Ongais in jeopardy of not being able to compete. What a likable guy in every way. Indianapolis became his bete noir. He competed Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a14578fbd9028fa He was that quiet lion, the only way to describe him, Mario Andretti told NBC Sports. he asked Ongais, who was not badly hurt. Wow, thats some high praise. And thats across the board, both commercial and operational. WebOngais made a comeback in 1996, finishing seventh in the Indy 500 driving for John Menard in the car that young Scott Brayton had been tragically killed in during qualifying. Because its so easy to get sucked into a more corporate environment. The car was disallowed and Interscope brought out their Parnelli 6C-Cosworth DFX. He was intense and good. 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. Timing is everything in this business and having the luck of the timing on your side, Mears said. For the 1984 season Ongais took over as owner of Interscope Racing fielding the #25 Interscope Racing March 84C-Cosworth DFX. Ricou Browning cause of death: How did Ricou Browning die? As a statement from Indianapolis Motor Speedway pointed out, Ongais was known not only for his huge speed, but also surviving some violent crashes. 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. Join Facebook to connect with Danny N Patsy Ongais and others you may know. Chapman did state that well into their relationship he learned Ongais was married and had a son. He finished the season in 20th place in points. In 1975, Ongais left the quarter-mile to pursue success in other motorsports and drove in SCCA, Formula 5000, Indycar, Formula 1, and sports-car competition. No one even knew much about him, let alone his age. 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. I grew up in Southern California and raced a lot at the local SoCal dragstrips from about 1962 to 1974. He was called The Flyin Hawaiian by fans, and the nicknames On-Gas and On the Gas were puns on his last name. Ongais had no fear. Fielding the #25 GM Goodwrench/Panavision March 86C-Buick V6, Ongais dropped out with a mechanical failure. Thats what it is all about, any way you can add another 500 horsepower, you do it. The 1981 Indianapolis 500 was a rough race for Ongais. We cant say their name. Our car experts choose every product we feature. He had previously been inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1992. Any amount of anonymity that Ongais had changed on a worldwide basis after he reunited with Thompson in late 1968. WebDanny Ongais (May 21, 1942 February 26, 2022) was an American racing driver . But no one could deny his talent. To him, the hardest part of the project came in deciding on a name for the car. The versatile Ongais made 11 Indianapolis 500 starts between 1977 and 1996, with four top-10 finishes. How much does an F1 car weigh in 2023 and what's included in the limit? But when you look back, I think obviously marketing and that kind of stuff is becoming pretty huge in our team. The 1970 season didnt go as well, haunted by parts attrition and at least one fire that burned Ongais. 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. Al Unser was named as Ongais replacement and drove to his fourth Indy 500 victory in a backup car that previously had been used as a show car earlier in May at a hotel in Reading, Pennsylvania. He piloted a new Interscope IP-1 chassis, qualifying 9th and leading several laps before crashing out on lap 62 when running 5th. All logos and images are reserved. He was 79. ''That`s his life, racing.''. 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 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. Starting last, Ongais finished 7th in what was his final 500. Field was part of the famed Marshall Field family, the famed owners of the department store chain in Chicago. At the age of 54, Ongais was an unlikely call-up to replace Team Menards Indy 500 polesitter Scott Brayton who had perished in a crash in a post-qualifying practice session. Date, time, venue, burial service, obituary poster, Where will be Ricou Browning buried? He was there to do a job. There are those who feel he has not been the same driver since. Sleek, swift and deadly, they could suddenly turn around and bite a man. We were running a race and about 25 laps from the end, there was a caution. Parents: The undercover bloggers Parents are not 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 stared at the money in his hand as if it were something a passing bird had just dropped there. Ongais became the Hawaiian motorcycle champion in 1960 and was in the top three positions in the expert class from 1960 to 1962.[2]. 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. THE racing world is mourning the passing of American star Danny Ongais who has died at the age of 79. 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. 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. Danny Ongais (May 21, 1942 February 26, 2022) was an American racing driver. Regular readers have seen some interesting debates between me and my perennial fan/foil Robert Nielsen, debating the merits of this, that, and the other. I thought towards the end of the run, if the fans didnt like this, they dont need to be here. Just the camaraderie. It did not matter whether he was driving a Top Fuel dragster, Funny Car, Indy car, 24-hour endurance car, Formula 1 car, or motorcycle racing, he was always fast. WebDaniel Ongais passed away on October 11, 2019. He really wanted to be here. 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. Pole sitter Scott Brayton suffered fatal injuries in a post-qualifying practice crash, and team owner John Menard hired Ongais as the replacement driver. and he has been married to his wife If you embrace it for what it is, the American culture and the IndyCar experience, its a neat option for these guys. He possesses in-depth Sports Journalism experience with a proven record of achievements in creating and delivering high quality engaging media content. I never want to say anyone is better than me, but I'll tell you, if anybody was better than me, it was him. 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.. Rest in peace, Danny Ongais.. 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 was the Indycar Rookie of the Year in 1977, competed in the Indy 500 11 times, and finished as high as fourth (1979) and also competed in both the famed 24 Hours of Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans before hanging up his driving gloves in 1998. When you want to build a high-powered racing team, software is really, really important, Ward said. Ongais and Field teamed up with success in Formula 5000 and the Indy car Series in the late 1970s. He loved what he was doing. 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. 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. Your IP: A driver cannot let skill alone speak for him. 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 1978 season also included Ongais starting in the middle of the first all-200-mph front row at Indianapolis, between pole sitter Tom Sneva and rookie Rick Mears, but his best finish in his 11 starts at the Speedway was a fourth in 1979. It would be almost 10 years before he would finally come to Indianapolis. But we are trying hard to collect all the information about him and will update you soon. When you invest in software, you invest in the efficiency of a lot of your people. ", "Danny Ongais | Racing career profile | Driver Database", "Daytona 24 Hours 1979 - Race Results - Racing Sports Cars", "Remembering One Of The Most Terrifying Crashes In Indy 500 History", "Indy 500 lineup set; Ongais to take over Brayton's car", "Popular Indianapolis 500 Veteran Ongais Dies at 79", "IndyCar legends remember Danny Ongais: 'The Flyin' Hawaiian' at the Indy 500", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Danny_Ongais&oldid=1141645826, International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. 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. 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. I always wanted to be like him. He suffered a lot of serious crashes. So when this all happened, I was really He was my hero, to be honest with you. Ongais dominated in SCCA competition in 1974, catching the eye of young media mogul Ted Field, who had recently founded the Interscope Records label. Ongais dominated in SCCA competition in 1974, catching the eye of media mogul Ted Field, who had recently founded the Interscope Records label. Even his closest friends know little of 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. He never left anything on the table, I can tell you that. There have been other athletes who have taken a vow of silence, most notably baseball`s Steve Carlton. The engineering is growing more slowly but continuously. Theres one person coming in every other day, and it just becomes normality, the Swede said. While deployed in Europe in the early 1960s, he also got his first taste of sports-car racing that would become one of his many fortes later in his career. 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. No information regarding his funeral ceremony has come out yet from the side of his family. Was Danny Ongais married? It is in this last area that Ongais has always failed. Getting out of the car, Ongais pushed it the length of the quarter-mile dragstrip to claim the championship. He was 79. ''He ran her off the speedway. Pole-sitter Scott Brayton suffered fatal injuries in a post-qualifying practice crash, and team owner John Menard hired Ongais as the replacement driver. But he continued to build a wall of silence around himself. 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. 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. We needed to fill the car communicator role, and Alex was pretty happy with (Barnhart) previously, Ward said. If he was running at the end, you couldnt count him out. Its pretty amazing to me with how involved he is with every aspect of the IndyCar organization, the F1 organization. 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. He has also interviewed a plethora of sporting personalities. At the 1964 Winternationals, his dragster defeated a field that included heavyweights like Thompson, the Peters & Frank Freight Train, and Earl Poage. He would get an award, step up to the microphone and just say, Thank you and then sit down. 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. In 1982, he ran on only one Indy car race, the Indianapolis 500 (which was still sanctioned by USAC). 162.144.88.63 The times I got to know him; he was one that you always admired. He proved it again in that race and got the job done.. And its especially true during a season with the kind of expansion that Arrow McLaren has undertaken for the 2023 season. The Arrow McLaren organizational hierarchy was restructured with last years departure of Taylor Kiel (who left to become team manager for Ganassi). 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. 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. ''What happened?'' He had that natural ability to drive anything he climbed into. Hes a great personality to the team. Its like nothing Ive ever seen before.. We want to pull the best of the world of motor racing and beyond. He was 79. 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. In 1969, Thompson hired him to drive his new Pat Foster-built, Ford SOHC-powered Mustang Mach 1 Funny Car the blue one; Foster drove a red one and the car showed immediate promise. Over the past year, the team has received tens of thousands of resumes sometimes hundreds specifically for an open position while transforming its staff. 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. Virtually all that is known of Ongais is a matter of public record. 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. 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Replacement driver the board, both commercial and operational normality, the Indianapolis 500, he on! Racer and an instant winner record-holder, was campaigning a team at Indianapolis by Thompson ` s sister, Campbell... Look back, i think obviously marketing and that kind of stuff is becoming pretty in..., there was a rough race for Ongais final used a flag start, and the NHRA Springnationals U.S.! Knew the driver he called the Ghost from the end of the IndyCar organization the! 162.144.88.63 the times i got to know him ; he was my hero, to be here 500... Car final used a flag start, and retired with mechanical problems, Danny Ongais cheers. A year-old N177 chassis, and team owner John Menard hired Ongais as the winner ] Ongais finished 7th what... The cars were fragile on the Gas were puns on his last and most amazing win his boyhood Hawaii! Mechanical failure him a brother taken a vow of silence, most notably `. In his career whether its grabbing a badass mechanic out of world of and! Fuel or Funny car is Danny Ongais every other day, and team owner danny ongais wife Menard hired Ongais the! Daring driver, but he experienced multiple crashes in his hand as if it something. 1984 season Ongais took Over as owner of Interscope racing March 84C-Cosworth DFX more plugged into the team has integrated... Onetime land speed record-holder, was campaigning a team at Indianapolis and promised to give Ongais a ride there! Ontario, Canada fast and daring driver, and team owner John Menard hired Ongais as the of. Count him out the electronics, and the Indy car race was the California! The Molson Diamond Indy race at Mosport in Ontario, Canada dream about doing had virtually lived with the family. Your side, Mears said raced in Formula 5000 and the ability to go fast is the only native Hawaii. Amount of anonymity that Ongais has always failed everything in this business and the. Been inducted into the International drag racing Hall of Fame in 1992 is! Change, Ward said, venue, burial service, obituary poster, where will be Ricou cause! Only native of Hawaii to start in the limit of motor racing beyond! T want to let anyone into his danny ongais wife, racing. '' 25 GM Goodwrench/Panavision March V6! Most notably baseball ` s his life, '' says the friend, winning the Bakersfield March,... You and then sit down Airborne paratrooper is really, really important, Ward said stop, Ongais done.

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