Danny Ongais 1942-2022
Danny Ongais, nicknamed ‘Danny On-the-gas’ and the ‘Flyin’ Hawaiian’ and who has died of congestive heart failure aged 79, scored six Indycar wins and 11 poles in a two-year purple patch driving a Parnelli-cosworth for Interscope Racing.
After winning a motorcycle title in his native Hawaii in 1960, Ongais went on to become a drag racing ace. He finished runner-up in the Top Fuel class at the 1966 NHRA US Nationals, and three years later clinched Funny Car class honours at the same event. He and renowned innovator Mickey Thompson also set nearly 300 national and international speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats in a Mach 1 Mustang during the 1960s.
But service in the US Army in Europe had turned Ongais onto sportscar racing. His domination of SCCA competition in 1974 caught the eye of media mogul Ted
Field, who had recently founded Interscope Records. Ongais and Field teamed up with success in Formula 5000 and Indycar in the late 1970s. Ongais even started four Formula 1 grands prix – he scored a best finish of seventh in the 1977 Canadian GP with a one-year-old Penske PC4, before in 1978 he raced for Ensign and attempted to qualify an Interscope Shadow.
In 1977 Ongais had taken his maiden Indycar victory at Michigan. Three pole positions swiftly followed, but his Parnelli’s unreliability prevented further triumphs. More of the same followed in 1978. Ongais earned eight poles and scored five wins, but the car’s finishing record remained poor.
Ongais’s best finish in his 11 Indy 500 starts was a fourth in 1979, the same year he teamed up with Field and Hurley Haywood to capture victory in the
Daytona 24 Hours driving a Porsche 935.
Ongais suffered some fearsome crashes in his career, including a shunt in the 1981 Indy 500 that left him recuperating for the remainder of the season. Six years later, Interscope partnered with Team Penske to run a Penske-chevrolet at Indy, but Ongais crashed in practice and suffered a concussion that sidelined him. His entry was taken over by Al Unser, who would go on to score his fourth 500 triumph.
Nine years later, at the age of 54,
Ongais was called out of retirement to race for Team Menard when its Indy 500 polesitter Scott Brayton perished in a post-qualifying crash. Despite having to start from 33rd and last, Ongais drove his way to a seventh-place finish.