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. Danny Ongais, a Hawaii native, died Saturday of heart complications in Anaheim Hills, California, according to a news release from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 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. Before his championship run with Penske, Ward spent more than 12 years as an aerodynamicist and engineer with the Red Bull F1 team. He was a racer, and he loved what he was doing, so it was easier for him to get back in the car.. Wow, thats some high praise. ), Danny Ongais stepped up when @INDYCAR & I needed him most. 5 Dallara-Chevrolet. 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. That is what you do in drag racing. Ongais endured a tough season highlighted by a 3rd-place finish at Watkins Glen. I got to spend time with Danny at the [Indy] Speedway, and I just watched him do his thing, and he was magnificent. Our paths didnt cross a lot away from the track, but when they did, he was a quiet, easygoing guy totally different and opposite outside of the car. Thompson, the onetime land speed record-holder, was campaigning a team at Indianapolis and promised to give Ongais a ride. 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. Women comprise nearly 20 percent of its staff with many in the engineering department. I feel like its been so hard to find people in all departments. Good grief, who can forget Jim Crawford (1990)? Ongais crashed in practice and suffered a concussion in 1987 at Indianapolis while driving for Team Penske, forcing him to miss the race. Ongais made 11 Indy 500 starts between 1977 and 1996 and placed in the top 10 a total of four times. Ongais next drove in CART during the 1983 CART/PPG World Series season, first appearing at the 1983 Indianapolis 500. Danny Ongais was known as "The A semi-serious look at the points battles heading to Pomona, T.V. They dominated the season, winning the Bakersfield March Meet, Orange Countys Manufacturer's Meet, and the NHRA Springnationals and U.S. Nationals. 2 at 11:30 a.m. Casual attire; flowers and lei are welcomed He is survived by wife, Patricia P. Ongais of Keaau; daughters, Deneen (Nathan) Ongais Louie of Hilo, Renee (Clarence) Ongais-Salvador of Mt. Its a big focus to get the McLaren brand out in the world and do good content, which I think were probably the leading team in that sense now. Usually its me calling him for comment on someone whos passed, but this time he called me (he was, in fact, the first person to tell me of Ongais passing). Thats the way he drove, too. Gundlach forwarded Hackenbergs contact information to an Arrow McLaren hiring manager, and the match turned out perfect. Thats racing. 32 seat vacated by the late Scott Brayton, Danny Ongais made his last start in the Indy 500 with Team Menard (IndyCar). Carrying too much speed out of the turn, the car drifted out into the grey and the back end began to slide. 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. 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. 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. 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. Longtime IndyCar driver Danny Ongais, who earned 11 starts in the Indianapolis 500, sustained congestive heart complications and died, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced. 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). He competed Ongais and Fields success with the Interscope team also extended to sports car racing, with Field also driving. First, Penske has said many times, he wants a team player. Ongais had a sixth sense, so he could detect the car almost before it started to move and get out of shape. 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. He made a late pass going into turn 3. 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. (Its) retaining the people youve got, he said. WebDaniel Ongais passed away on October 11, 2019. ''In Hawaii,'' he huffed, ''I`d get at least $250.''. Ranking the top 10 IndyCar drivers of 2021. ''He has a good brain,'' says a friend, ''and in a social circumstance can be witty. He also won eight poles in qualifying. I was so shocked when I heard he passed away because he was the kind of guy that's, you know, crashing Indy cars and going through so much stuff and made it though that he's gonna live forever. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. 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. 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. The green flag came out, and we ran side-by-side 220 mph for about 21 laps, sashaying at each other, side-by-side. Two years later he qualified on the front row and led for four laps before crashing again. [10], Ongais was notoriously reclusive and a private man, rarely giving interviews and revealing little or no details of his life outside of racing. He enlisted in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper stationed in Europe. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Im new to this role; hes lived it before. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. ''You`ll be lucky to win $250 the whole season here,'' he was told. The versatile Ongais made 11 Indianapolis 500 starts between 1977 and 1996, with four top-10 finishes. How Harvey found his dream team Get email updates about Daniel Ongais delivered directly to your inbox. He may yet get that chance. Honestly, this team comes from humble beginnings in the IndyCar world. 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. Kiels team president role essentially was split between Ward and other managers. 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. No information regarding his funeral ceremony has come out yet from the side of his family. [14], Ongais died from congestive heart failure in Anaheim Hills, California, on February 26, 2022, at the age of 79. He was fast. 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. At the 1981 Indianapolis 500, he was involved in a near-fatal accident that caused him to miss almost a year of racing. Ongais died Feb. 26, 2022 from congestive heart failure in Anaheim Hills, California. No one even knew much about him, let alone his age. WebFormer Indy car and drag racing star Danny Ongais has died of congestive heart complications in Anaheim Hills, Calif., the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced on His first Indy-car race came at Ontario, Calif., late in 1976. Were not shy to hire a visa candidate who might require extra effort to obtain work permits. 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. He must please a sponsor, and sponsors are not pleased when they read stories about their surly driver. He finished the season in 20th place in points. 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. On May 15, 1982, Danny Ongais qualified 9th for the Indy 500. His death was announced by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway two days later. 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. The group of people that are in charge (of) who joins the team, I think they know exactly what we need, and I trust theyre going to make the right decisions. The sad news of the death of the veteran racing driver was announced by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway two days later after his death. He was direct. 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. In the 1960s he won multiple drag racing championships and was named one of the National Hot Rod Associations Top 50 Drivers for 1951-2000. 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. He was as smooth they get. 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. 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 Born May 21, 1942 in Kahului, Hawaii, Ongais began one of the most versatile careers of any driver in his era as a teenager, earning a Hawaii state title in motorcycle racing in 1960. Performance & security by Cloudflare. Weve done a bit of that. The cars were fragile on the half shafts, and he liked to drive them hard sometimes. Theres one person coming in every other day, and it just becomes normality, the Swede said. He was transported by an ambulance to a nearby hospital in a critical condition. He was always kind of a private person. He had a 7th at Ontario and 5th at Phoenix and then he won his first Indy car race at Michigan International Speedway. Ricou Browning cause of death: How did Ricou Browning die? The action you just performed triggered the security solution. Over the past year, the team has received tens of thousands of resumes sometimes hundreds specifically for an open position while transforming its staff. Arrow McLaren was known as Schmidt Peterson Motorsports before McLaren gradually became the majority owner in mid-2021. Thats definitely not a rumor, said OWard, who is entering his fourth season of driving McLarens No. In 1985, Ongais also survived a spectacular barrel-roll at Michigan International Speedway after hitting the back of the slower car of Phil Krueger on the backstretch. The Arrow McLaren organizational hierarchy was restructured with last years departure of Taylor Kiel (who left to become team manager for Ganassi). 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. In 1982, he ran on only one Indy car race, the Indianapolis 500 (which was still sanctioned by USAC). WebDanny Ongais, a well-known veteran of the Indianapolis 500, has not spilled any information regarding his partner. For the 1984 season Ongais took over as owner of Interscope Racing fielding the #25 Interscope Racing March 84C-Cosworth DFX. Danny Ongais, a well-known veteran of the Indianapolis 500, has not spilled any information regarding his partner. Nigel Mansells greatest F1 and Indycar drives, How Marcus Ericsson finally unlocked his potential in IndyCar, How Ericsson unlocked his potential Ongais is the main Hawaiian to compete in Hustlings Greatest Show. I think weve done a great job of that. He crashed again in 1982, and then came Thursday`s wrenching collision with the wall. ''He says he doesn`t want to talk,'' said Penske, after making a personal plea to Ongais to grant an interview. RIP, my friend. Why Kyle Kirkwood is America's new IndyCar ace-in-waiting, Why Kirkwood is USA's ace-in-waiting He ran his last Indy Car race the next year, in the Indy 200 at Walt Disney World, with Chitwood Motorsports, where he finished 13th. Was Danny Ongais married? I dont think theres a better IndyCar team to work for right now.. 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