Born : May 21 1942
Deceased : February 26 2022
Biography Danny Ongais
Danny Ongais was born in Kahului, Hawai in 1942. He started his racing career at the very young age of only 14. First, Ongais tried his luck on 2 wheels. He turned out to be successful in driving motorcycles and earned a Hawaiian state title in motorcycle racing at the age of 18. Ongais moved on to drag racing and set almost 300 national and international speed records in a Mach 1 Mustang with Mickey Thompson.
Ongais was American Hot Rod Association AA Gas Dragster Champion in 1963 and 1964, National Hot Rod Association AA Dragster champion in 1965. Danny Ongais became the first driver to exceed 200mph on a European track in 1965. Yet, he longed for more. So, Ongais added sports cars to his résumé. Ongais became an accomplished road racer and sports car driver.
He turned to circuit racing in 1974 and in the SCCA Road Racing Series he achieved 12 victories (from 15 starts). The domination Onglais expelled in SCCA competition in 1974, caught the eye of young media mogul Ted Field, who had recently founded the Interscope Records label.
Interscope Racing
Ongais and Field teamed up with success in Formula 5000 and the INDYCAR SERIES in the late 1970s. He also competed in four Formula One races in 1977 and 1978, including two starts with Interscope, with the best finish of seventh in 1977 at the Canadian Grand Prix. His final F1 race was mid-season at Zandvoort.
From this he competed in ChampCar plus some IMSA sportscar races, winning a ChampCar race at Mosport in 1978 and in 1979 won the Daytona 24 hour race with Ted Field and Hurley Haywood in a Porsche 935. He also finished 4th at Indy in a Parnelli VPJ6.
1980 was a tough season, though he finished 7th at Indianapolis and took a 3rd-place at Watkins Glen. He also did one race, for AMI Racing, and ended the season in 15th place. During this period he also raced at Le Mans, co-driving a Porsche 935K3 with Ted Field and Jean-Louis Lafosse in 1980.
1981 Indy 500 crash
Unfortunately in 1981, he was involved in a terrifying crash at the Indy 500. He was leading the race but problems during a pit stop caused it to drag on for 46 seconds. Soon after he returned to the race he crashed nearly head-on into the wall. In harrowing aftermath, the front bodywork had gone and his legs were exposed and he sustained life-threatening injuries. After recuperation, he was back only a few months later, which included racing a Kremer Porsche CK5, with Ted Field and Bill Whittington in 1982.
The success of Danny Ongais in straight-line competition led him to be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2000 in the Drag Racing category. During his career, he won the 24 Hours of Daytona, qualified for ten consecutive Indy 500s. Danny Ongais died of congestive heart complications in Anaheim Hills, California.
Pictures courtesy unknown
