He was 79. How Liberty is "playing long game" to help F1 teams make money, Nigel Mansells greatest F1 and Indycar drives, Nigel Mansells greatest drives Ill see what I can do help you out. We have no more Information about his Father; we will try to collect information and update soon. 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. Weve expanded our operations pretty significantly, she said. Date, time, venue, burial service, obituary poster, Where will be Ricou Browning buried? At a time when a lot of cars were running in the 7.70s and .80s, Ongais first pass was a 7.57, and it didnt take them long to get into the 7.30s. And thats across the board, both commercial and operational. People are hungry and people feel like were out here to do damage.. 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 did win one legendary race that year, however, joining forces with Field and Hurley Haywood to win the Daytona 24 Hours in an Interscope Porsche 935. 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). For the 1986 season Ongais only ran the 1986 Indianapolis 500 for Interscope Racing. 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. Copyright 1996-2023, NHRA. From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. 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. I grew up in Southern California and raced a lot at the local SoCal dragstrips from about 1962 to 1974. 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. Danny completed 10th place in his last race in 1996. He won the American Hot Rod Association AA Gas Dragster Championship in 1963 and 1964, and in the National Hot Rod Association AA Dragster championship title in 1965. He competed professionally in motorcycle, sports car, CART, IndyCar, Formula One, and drag racing. Faster than he could whip a motorcycle through a turn, Ongais became a drag racer and an instant winner. In 1985, he also survived a spectacular barrel roll at Michigan International Speedway after hitting the back of the slower car of Phil Krueger on the backstretch. We were running a race and about 25 laps from the end, there was a caution. He didnt talk, but he let the car speak for him.. 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. In this Jim Nelson once said that what he could tell about Ongais was that "all he wanted to do was race. But Ward said it wasnt necessarily a driver-executive package deal. 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. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway detailed his death two days after the fact. Even his closest friends know little of his personal life. The cars were fragile on the half shafts, and he liked to drive them hard sometimes. 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. The versatile Ongais made 11 Indianapolis 500 starts between 1977 and 1996, with four top-10 finishes. READ ALSO: Danny Ongais Wife - Was Danny Ongais Married? 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. The car broke in two and his legs were hanging out. I always wanted to be like him. Ongais had virtually lived with the Thompson family, and Campbell considered him a brother. But he continued to build a wall of silence around himself. 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. He was later discharged and returned to Hawaii for motor racing. Its pretty amazing to me with how involved he is with every aspect of the IndyCar organization, the F1 organization. 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. WebWas Danny Ongais Married? 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. Its been a time of tremendous growth for the team, and most of that growth has come since the end of last season, Ward told NBC Sports as many of the new team members scurried past him with fresh parts and data during a break from preseason testing at The Thermal Club in Southern California last month. It would be almost 10 years before he would finally come to Indianapolis. No one even knew much about him, let alone his age. What it has done to his life no one could say. Fielding the #25 GM Goodwrench/Panavision March 86C-Buick V6, Ongais dropped out with a mechanical failure. RIP Danny Ongais, who passed away Feb.26, 2022, in California of congestive heart failure at age 79. They teamed up with the legendary Hurley Haywood to win the Rolex 24 At Daytona in 1979 in the Interscope Porsche 935 prototype. Facebook gives people the power to share and Danny Ongais had a net wort estimated at $5 million dollars. That comes from a focus on the culture of the team. Thats the difference. 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. 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. Ongais next drove in CART during the 1983 CART/PPG World Series season, first appearing at the 1983 Indianapolis 500. Getting out of the car, Ongais pushed it the length of the quarter-mile dragstrip to claim the championship. After finally leaving the pits, Ongais approached a slower car at the end of the backstretch. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The 'Flyin Hawaiian' was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America for drag racing in 2000. Carrying too much speed out of the turn, the car drifted out into the grey and the back end began to slide. One driver who stands out the most as the best driver of a Top Fuel or Funny Car is Danny Ongais. Danny, the way he picked it up, was like a duck to water, Mario Andretti told NBC Sports. 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. While practicing for his first Indy-car race at Hanford, Calif., his car caught fire on the. The sad news of the death of the veteran racing driver was announced by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway two days later after his death. The Flying Hawaiin led a very secretive life outside the racing world its known that Ongais had a wife but it is said h had a son who is unidentified for now. Rosenqvist, driver of the No. I think its a more family friendly way to go racing. Arrow McLaren was known as Schmidt Peterson Motorsports before McLaren gradually became the majority owner in mid-2021. 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. [8] Later in the season, Interscope Racing set up a partnership between themselves and Patrick Racing giving Patrick March 83C-Cosworth DFXs. Was Danny Ongais married? It was always wide-open throttle. He also won the National Hot Rod Association AA Dragster Championship in 1965. 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. In 1978 he also made one final attempt at F1. At the Indianapolis 500 Ongais crashed in practice and this put Ongais in jeopardy of not being able to compete. Ongais hadnt raced since the 1986 Indy 500. He also finished in 10th place in points. 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. In 1982, he ran on only one Indy car race, the Indianapolis 500 (which was still sanctioned by USAC). 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. Weve got intense bits of the season. Ongais crashed in practice and suffered a concussion in 1987 at Indianapolis while driving for Team Penske, forcing him to miss the race. He crashed out on a wet track at Watkins Glen after moving up early but managed a 7th place in Canada in what would be his best finish in F1.[2]. 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. 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. 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. It was a big track. We let him drive my car, and his first run was as good as any I ever made. Danny Ongais has Ongais stayed active in drag racing until 1974, when he began to heavily pursue a road racing/Indy 500 career. Next, he wants a man who will project the Penske image to sponsors and the press. Ongais and Field teamed up with success in Formula 5000 and the IndyCar Series in the late 1970s. Weve got to take care of our people through those hard stretches, but for the most part, its a little less time away, the travels not quite so far. Except Ongais, and he wasn`t talking. 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. Danny Ongais (May 21, 1942 February 26, 2022) was an American racing driver. To him, the hardest part of the project came in deciding on a name for the car. He may yet get that chance. Shes like, Absolutely. . That attitude often got him in trouble, though. He won the American Hot Rod Association AA Gas Dragster Championship in 1963 and 1964. ), Danny Ongais stepped up when @INDYCAR & I needed him most. He would get an award, step up to the microphone and just say, Thank you and then sit down. He was direct. He also recorded the fastest lap of the race, 192.678 mph, as a rookie in 1977. When you want to build a high-powered racing team, software is really, really important, Ward said. All registered. He qualified well over the season, earning three poles, and he finished 12th in the standings. He was a tough guy, but it was fun to know him. View their obituary at Legacy.com flowers and lei are welcomed He is survived by wife, Patricia P. Ongais of Keaau; He was a force to be reckoned with when he was out there. But then the wild mustangs he was driving gave way to the thoroughbreds, the ground-effects cars. 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 checked issues of National Dragster and, noting that almost everyone was running a Chevrolet engine, dubbed his car "Chevy, 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. And Penske said he would have a car ready for him. (Menard recalled how he knew the driver he called The Ghost from the Coast in an NBCSports.com interview last year. ''You`ll be lucky to win $250 the whole season here,'' he was told. His expansive Rolodex comes in handy but hasnt been key in expanding to a third car. Wife: The blogger is not married. Ongais was a man of few words but drove a race car with the right foot of an elephant on the accelerator. There probably has never been a driver who hit the wall harder more often and was able to survive than Danny Ongais (who died earlier this year). Represented at Indianapolis by Thompson`s sister, Colleen Campbell, Ongais occasionally allowed himself to be interviewed. I feel like its been so hard to find people in all departments. I never worried about being alongside of him or anything like that. Field was part of the famed Marshall Field family, the famed owners of the department store chain in Chicago. Hes happy to be here; were happy to have him.. Weve had more people come to us than weve reached out to other people. He was a good guy. First, Penske has said many times, he wants a team player. The versatile Ongais made 11 #Indy500 starts, with four top-10 finishes. 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. NASCAR 2023 at Las Vegas schedule, entry list, and how to watch, NASCAR 2023 at Las Vegas schedule, entry list, and how to watch WebFilling the No. (Its) retaining the people youve got, he said. 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. 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.. At the 1981 Indianapolis 500, he was involved in a near-fatal accident that caused him to miss almost a year of racing. There is one way in which Arrow McLarens transformation is noticeable. Danny faced a ton of heart problems in his old age. Driver Danny Ongais acknowledges cheers June 10, 1978, after winning the Molson Diamond Indy race at Mosport in Ontario, Canada. No matter how fast Ongais drove his race car, he always wanted to go even faster. Ongais scored a best finish of 5th place at the Escort Warning Radars 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. 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. This is certainly an exciting company to work for because the brand is quite well known globally, and that certainly helps from a recruitment perspective. 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. WebOngais has been a man of mystery since he first arrived on the mainland from his native Hawaii and set the world of drag racing on its ear. 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. 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. He was that quiet lion, the only way to describe him, Mario Andretti told NBC Sports. There also is an appeal to being a professional sports team. (The fact that we share the same birthday albeit 16 years apart has nothing to do with it.). Pole sitter Scott Brayton suffered fatal injuries in a post-qualifying practice crash, and team owner John Menard hired Ongais as the replacement driver. Join Facebook to connect with Danny N Patsy Ongais and others you may know. For Ongais it was the opportunity of a lifetime, the chance to resurrect a shattered 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. Danny Ongais, who risked his life routinely as part of his job even more than most auto racers died peacefully at age 79. After starting last season with 61 employees, the Arrow McLaren payroll mushroomed in the offseason. On the starting line, his rival`s car broke, spilling its oil. 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.). 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. The versatile Ongais made 11 Indianapolis 500 starts between 1977 and 1996, with four top-10 finishes. Not sharp like Johnny Rutherford or deep like Bobby Rahal, but he`s certainly intelligent enough.''. 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. 1974, when he began to slide significantly, she said people the power to share and Danny.! And then sit down in mid-2021 1 to MotoGP we report straight the! 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