Ward noted two important additions from the world of Big Data and analytics in data and strategy lead Michael Gethers (who came from Salesforce) and engineer Eric Hestekin (who arrived from Boeing Defense). Danny Ongais was my hero, Mears told NBC Sports. 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. RIP, my friend. [15] His former Indy car competitors remembered him well after his passing, with Mario Andretti calling him that quiet lion.[16], (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position). The starting blast damaged the electronics, and the Funny Car final used a flag start, and Ongais defeated Prudhomme for the win. Ongais had no fear. Ongais, racing at age 54 in his first 500 since 1986, finished a creditable seventh after starting from the rear of the field. This time they carried him away, his body broken almost beyond repair. 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. His best years at Indianapolis Motor Speedway came with Interscope Racing and its eye-catching No. Ongais final attempt at Indianapolis came in 1998, when he failed to qualify in a Team Pelfrey car. Throughout his career Ongais has held the press at bay, but now he has become almost obsessively reclusive. He was super talented and could jump from car to car and make that car better. 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 "Ongais, Danny - Drag Racing - 2000 | Inductees | Hall of Fame", "The World Championship drivers - Where are they now? This coupled with his lightning-quick reflex reactions and featherlight touch allowed him to correct for it and to get to the finish line without lifting off the throttle. 1 staffing priority wasnt hiring. He never really disparaged anybody. Ricou Browning cause of death: How did Ricou Browning die? The time zone changes arent quite so big. Writers soon learned never to ask a question that could be answered ''yes'' or ''no.'' That stems more from drag racing. 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 He also recorded the fastest lap of the race, 192.678 mph, as a rookie in 1977. Three pole positions swiftly followed, but the Interscope Parnelli-Cosworths unreliability prevented further triumphs. Arrow McLaren uses applicant tracking software to determine the best matches on background, education and experience. [14], Ongais died from congestive heart failure in Anaheim Hills, California, on February 26, 2022, at the age of 79. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a14578fbd9028fa It is in this last area that Ongais has always failed. We obviously have the resources to tap into and the shared knowledge of the greater McLaren Racing group. Type above and press Enter to search. Copyright 1996-2023, NHRA. His way has, in effect, betrayed his talent and denied his intellect. Ongais Indy 500 career ended with him leading in four races for 79 total laps. For Ongais it was the opportunity of a lifetime, the chance to resurrect a shattered career. There is one way in which Arrow McLarens transformation is noticeable. His death was announced by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway two days later. Daniel was born on June 10, 1938 and passed away on Friday, October 11, 2019. 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 was knocked unconscious by the heavy impact. Zak also leads the charge in that. The best season for Ongais and the Interscope team came in 1978, when he won five races and eight poles en route to an eighth-place finish in the USAC standings. For those of us who saw Ongais race, he was a man who thrived on sheer, raw speed. Join Facebook to connect with Danny N Patsy Ongais and others you may know. He and renowned innovator Mickey Thompson set nearly 300 national and international speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats in a Mach 1 Mustang during the 1960s. I messaged her on Instagram, Hey, I think youre super cool, youre really killing it, and if you ever want to work in IndyCar, let me know, Gundlach told NBC Sports. I never want to say anyone is better than me, but I'll tell you, if anybody was better than me, it was him. I think weve got a very good tribe of people here, and part of that includes just diversity of humans in general, Gundlach said. He was 79. (Its) retaining the people youve got, he said. Weve really tried to stretch ourselves to find the best and the brightest no matter where they live, Scott said. After finally leaving the pits, Ongais approached a slower car at the end of the backstretch. He was there to do a job. But were also pretty realistic that you cant rob Peter to pay Paul, so were not always going to be able to hire from motorsports and especially other IndyCar teams. [2], Throughout the decade, and indeed throughout the remainder of his driving career, Ongais and Field continued driving sports cars successfully, mainly in IMSA Camel GT competition. 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. The 1970 season didnt go as well, haunted by parts attrition and at least one fire that burned Ongais. This remarkable achievement came one year after the 1981 race where he broke his right leg so badly that a piece of bone shot out of his firesuit and was found a day later stuck in the dirt outside of the track wall. Why Kyle Kirkwood is America's new IndyCar ace-in-waiting, 2021 IndyCar title is just the start for Ganassi's newest star, 2021 title just the start for Palou Ongais tried to correct the slide by turning right, and the car hooked to the right and crashed nearly head-on into the wall. No matter how fast Ongais drove his race car, he always wanted to go even faster. Its high schoolers. And well-deserved. Rossis signing was followed by the arrival of Brian Barnhart, the former IndyCar VP of competition who called strategy in Rossis final season at Andretti (when he ended a three-year winless drought). People are hungry and people feel like were out here to do damage.. Process always comes painfully slow, but then when you look back over a larger period of time, youre like, Oh hey, weve done a hell of a lot. . 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. BREAKING! He also raced in Formula One, in 1977-78, in six Grands Prix, recording a best result of seventh. Visitation from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Wake service at 7 p.m. Visitation from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.; Celebration of Mass at 10:30 a.m. Burial at East Hawaii Veterans Cemetery No. He would get an award, step up to the microphone and just say, Thank you and then sit down. Parents: The undercover bloggers Parents are not I dont know how hes in so many places at once, seemingly. 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. 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. He proved it again in that race and got the job done.. (Menard recalled how he knew the driver he called The Ghost from the Coast in an NBCSports.com interview last year. Cars during this period would smoke the tires from the starting line to the finish line, so getting crossed up was a moderately common occurrence. 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. Latest: Mystery of Microsoft CEO Young Son Zain Nadellas Cause of Death Famous Voice Actor Kirk Baily Unfortunately Passed Away Danny Ongais Cause of 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. Its like nothing Ive ever seen before.. I got down off the stand and went down to meet him. 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. Carrying too much speed out of the turn, the car drifted out into the grey and the back end began to slide. Pole sitter Scott Brayton suffered fatal injuries in a post-qualifying practice crash, and team owner John Menard hired Ongais as the replacement driver. ''He could take a car that was unmanageable and make it do what he wanted,'' says one observer. Yet he hides everything. But the fact that he could finish only eighth in the championship attests to the cars poor finishing record. Ongais scored another 4th-place finish at the Kent Oil 150 at Watkins Glen International and finished in 6th place in points. 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. He refuses to talk about his parents or his boyhood in Hawaii. He was 79 Weve expanded our operations pretty significantly, she said. He was later discharged and returned to Hawaii for motor racing. 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. View, Rosanne Ongais of Oceanside, California and Daisy (Melvin) Ongais-Kilaulani of Keaau; sons, Carl Moe, Jr. of Hilo, Richard (Julie) Moe of Bethel Island, California, David (Vanessa) Moe of Keaau, James Moe of Las Vegas, Nevada and Michael (Carrie) Moe of Brentwood, California; brothers, Jerome (Jean) Ongies of Oahu, Claudino (Bernadette) Ongais of Washington and Steven (Elena) Ongais of Hilo; sisters, Constance Wheeler of Arkansas and Carmen Dusza of Oahu; brother in-law, Alfred (Maile) Tavares of Hilo; sister in-law, Sharon Tavares of Keaau; 34 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren; numerous nieces, nephews a. 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. He was a force to be reckoned with when he was out there. His race director at Interscope Racing Jim Chapman stated Nobody really knew much about him where he lived, his family, stuff like that. At the 1964 Winternationals, his dragster defeated a field that included heavyweights like Thompson, the Peters & Frank Freight Train, and Earl Poage. 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. WebMotor sports and racing legend Danny Ongais passed away on February 26, 2022 at 3:15pm of congestive heart failure at his home in Anaheim Hills, CA, that he shared with From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. Danny Ongais, a well-known veteran of the Indianapolis 500, has not spilled any information regarding his partner. Getting out of the car, Ongais pushed it the length of the quarter-mile dragstrip to claim the championship. WebChapman did state that well into their relationship he learned Ongais was married and had a son. For Penske the hiring of Ongais was an aberration, a minor breach of his own immutable rules. WebFormer Indy car, drag racing star Danny Ongais dies aged 79 Danny Ongais, a race-winner and ace qualifier in Indy car racing whose career spanned three decades died last 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.. For reasons of his own, Ongais has done it his way, and it has all but destroyed his career. That attitude often got him in trouble, though. Now, his relationship is perfect. Ongais crashed in practice and suffered a concussion in 1987 at Indianapolis while driving for Team Penske, forcing him to miss the race. 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 Thats what we like to avoid doing because you lose a little of the human touch that way. Get email updates about Daniel Ongais delivered directly to your inbox. We want to pull the best of the world of motor racing and beyond. They soon began taking chunks out of Danny Ongais` hide. Staring through him as if he had not heard, Ongais made no reply. Was 1 of only 5 teammates I ever had in #INDYCAR. 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. Ongais was my hero, Mears told NBC Sports the greater McLaren Racing group aberration., 1938 and passed away on Friday, October 11, 2019 hanging out I got down off stand. Parents: the undercover bloggers parents are not I dont know how hes in so many places at once seemingly. Blast damaged the electronics, and the Funny car final used a flag start and. Ongais race, he was 79 weve expanded danny ongais wife operations pretty significantly, said. 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