danny ongais wife

When is Danny Ongais funeral? Type above and press Enter to search. In this week's Dragster Insider, friends and fellow racers remember the guy nicknamed On the Gas.. He complements my strengths very well, and his experience is a good buffer. The tragic circumstances of an accident also led to Ongais final start at Indianapolis, in 1996. Great guy. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway detailed his death two days after the fact. What a likable guy in every way. That comes from a focus on the culture of the team. The Arrow McLaren organizational hierarchy was restructured with last years departure of Taylor Kiel (who left to become team manager for Ganassi). 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. They teamed up with the legendary Hurley Haywood to win the Rolex 24 At Daytona in 1979 in the Interscope Porsche 935 prototype. 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. The caution wasnt that long, but we started side-by-side to finish the race. Even his closest friends know little of One long-running debate we had was: Who was Hawaiis greatest drag racer?, I was/am still solidly in the Roland Leong camp. Kiels team president role essentially was split between Ward and other managers. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. He suffered a concussion, compound fractures in both legs, a broken arm and a 6-inch tear in his diaphragm. 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.). Over the past year, the team has received tens of thousands of resumes sometimes hundreds specifically for an open position while transforming its staff. Drag racing, that's been my life, but for Danny, it was just part of where he wanted to go, and he sure got there.. Ongais suffered serious injuries in a head-on crash in the 1981 Indianapolis 500, missing the rest of the season to recover. 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. Weve had more people come to us than weve reached out to other people. His race director at Interscope Racing Jim Chapman stated Nobody really knew much about him where he lived, his family, stuff like that. In fact, even his closest associates have little insight into his own life, as he doesnt talk about his family or his youth in Hawaii. Those are the nice things that people want out of family who do this.. Al Unser was named as Ongais replacement and drove to his fourth 500 victory in a backup car that was a show car earlier in May in a hotel in Reading, Pennsylvania. 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. NASCAR 2023 at Las Vegas schedule, entry list, and how to watch, F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: How to watch on TV in the USA on ESPN, F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: How to watch on TV in the USA on ESPN I think the vibe is fantastic. For reasons of his own, Ongais has done it his way, and it has all but destroyed his career. Ongais is the main Hawaiian to compete in Hustlings Greatest Show. And Penske said he would have a car ready for him. Arrow McLaren still has done much of its hiring through the paddocks traditional word of mouth manner. He was a good guy. With sponsorship dollars generally on the rise in IndyCar, and manufacturer money pouring into rival series such as IMSA and F1, it likely never has been harder for hiring across U.S. motorsports. That is the reason why he got into the wall so often.. I think the general direction of the team, just kind of goals and ambitions, you can feel that everyones targeting something different than they did two years ago. Ranking the top 10 IndyCar drivers of 2021. Its high schoolers. He drove with bravado and advocated unlimited rules at the Indianapolis 500. He was hard to beat. Danny Ongais competed in 11 Indianapolis 500 starts, completing mostly good times between 1977 and 1996. He was fearless, Mears said. Danny faced a ton of heart problems in his old age. F4 Thailand Boys Over Flowers Season 1 Episode 13 Release Date and Time, Countdown, When Is It Coming Out. The 2023 Genesis G90 Shows Sedans Still Matter, GM Plans 4-Door, Crossover Vette EVs, Sources Say, 7 US Entries Confirmed for 24 Hour of Le Mans, Autoweek Racing on TV: February 27-March 5, Newman/Haas Racing Is Selling 42 Indy Cars Oct. 29, Three-time Indy 500 Starter Rasmussen Dies at 85, How Dixon's Simple Mistake Cost Him Indy 500 Win, Move Over ABBA, Sweden Has a New Racing Superstar, Jimmie Johnson's Indy 500 Experience Ends in Crash, Ayla Agren Is Montoya's Eyes in the Sky for 500, 11 Closest Indianapolis 500 Finishes in History, Larry Foyt Out to Get A.J. About three laps to go, Danny ran out of fuel, and he dropped out and that was it. At the age of 18, he earned a Hawaiian state title in motorcycle racing, and he went on to become a drag racing ace. There are those who feel he has not been the same driver since. The 1970 season didnt go as well, haunted by parts attrition and at least one fire that burned Ongais. Ongais and Fields success with the Interscope team also extended to sports car racing, with Field also driving. I got down off the stand and went down to meet him. In 1969, Ongais won the NHRA Spring Nationals and NHRA U.S. Nationals in the Funny Car class driving a Mickey Thompson Ford Mustang. Honda reveals Civic Type R pace car for IndyCar events, Ranking the top 10 IndyCar drivers of 2021, The top 10 IndyCar drivers of 2021 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. 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. [Related Insider column: Whatever came of the famed Blue Mustang?]. 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. People are hungry and people feel like were out here to do damage.. Im new to this role; hes lived it before. Some of the new faces are at the very top. Why Kyle Kirkwood is America's new IndyCar ace-in-waiting, Why Kirkwood is USA's ace-in-waiting Thats the difference. Virtually all that is known of Ongais is a matter of public record. He was a racer, and he loved what he was doing, so it was easier for him to get back in the car.. Also, we have no idea about his brother and sister, and we dont know their names either. Wow, thats some high praise. We have no information about his girlfriend/boyfriend. He got his licks in. RIP, my friend. 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. A driver at Indianapolis should be big enough to run what you brung, Ongais once said. Danny Ongais Net Worth Explored Indy car racer Danny Ongais total assets are estimated to be around $5 million. More of the same followed in 78. The IndyCar team since has been integrated with McLaren Racings F1 operations, which naturally led to some growing pains. The picture of the determined driver supplying his own horsepower made virtually every paper in the country, and it made him famous. Sleek, swift and deadly, they could suddenly turn around and bite a man. Its more about were happy and want people to know, and word spreads that this is a place thats trying to be good to its people and gunning for the very top. Ongais' outings in the various Vel's/Parnelli Jones Funny Cars were a little less successful but very exciting. Women comprise nearly 20 percent of its staff with many in the engineering department. He defeated Don Prudhomme at the 1966 HHRA Nationals Top Fuel semifinals. 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. Last year, we did five races in four weekends. Timing is everything in this business and having the luck of the timing on your side, Mears said. Ongais final attempt at Indianapolis came in 1998, when he failed to qualify in a Team Pelfrey car. We want to pull the best of the world of motor racing and beyond. He was one of the most passionate racers who has overtaken many races in such a manner, which made him immortal in the uncounted hearts. Ongais had no fear. The car broke in two and his legs were hanging out. Ongais scored another 4th-place finish at the Kent Oil 150 at Watkins Glen International and finished in 6th place in points. Your IP: ''He could take a car that was unmanageable and make it do what he wanted,'' says one observer. F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: How to watch on TV in the USA on ESPN, How Liberty is "playing long game" to help F1 teams make money, How Liberty is "playing long game" to help F1 teams make money WebDanny N Patsy Ongais is on Facebook. ''He just doesn`t want to let anyone into his life,'' says the friend. The starting blast damaged the electronics, and the Funny Car final used a flag start, and Ongais defeated Prudhomme for the win. 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 When you want to build a high-powered racing team, software is really, really important, Ward said. He was 79. 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