The team started the next season in an Ensign before changing to a Shadow DN9 but despite his usual hard charging style he was unable to get the car up to speed. At the end of 1977 Interscope bought him a seat with the Penske team for two of the North American races. In 1996, at the age of 54, he served as the substitute driver for Scott Brayton in the Indianapolis 500, as Brayton had died in a crash while practicing shortly before the race. » F1 Drivers » Danny Ongais info & statistics. External Links: Add: No external links have been added yet. During his career, he won the 24 Hours of Daytona, qualified for ten consecutive Indy 500s, and as far as I’m aware is the only driver to have achieved professional level victories in drag racing, oval track racing, and road racing. Born: March 21, 1942 in Kahului, Hawaii, USA. He popped up again in GrandAm in 2002, racing a Norma-Ford at the age of 60. Your … After a career in motorcycle racing and a spell in the US Army as a paratrooper Ongais became involved in the high octane world of drag racing in southern California in the mid 1960s. I'll call yer Danny Ongais and raise ya a Don Aronow . I have posted a piece on Danny Ongais, detailing his IndyCar and circuit racing, but in this piece I have included more detailed information regarding his drag racing, which I found really interesting. Agree by clicking the 'Accept' button. He was back for the Le Mans 24 Hours race in 1988, driving a Cabin Team Le Mans Nissan R88S (with Michel Trollé and Toshio Suzuki), though they retired during the race. document.write(""); You have 0 of these cards in your collection. After trying some of the best machines around he decided to build his own car. 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 suffered a suspension failure at Indianapolis and had a huge crash which left him fighting for his life. He also finished 4th at Indy in a Parnelli VPJ6. After the 1988 season Ongais disappeared from racing but re-emerged unexpectedly in 1996, driving for John Menard after Scott Brayton was killed in practice for the Indy 500. Although he crashed in the United States GP, he finished seventh in Canada. The 54-year-old Ongais finished seventh but his final hurrah at Indianapolis in 1997 ended in a big crash. 1980 was a tough season, though he finished 7th at Indianapolis and took a 3rd-place at Watkins Glen. Info from Wiki, Bio by Stephen Lathamq He pissed someone off though, he got ventilated with a .45 about 1 block from Apache. He was soon a frontrunner and in 1977 Field took him to USAC racing with a Parnelli chassis and he won a race at Michigan in his rookie year. That year he raced Indycars and in 1980 Field decided to embark on a Porsche-supported Indycar programme with a Roman Slobodjnskj Interscope chassis. During this period he also raced at Le Mans, co-driving a Porsche 935K3 with Ted Field and Jean-Louis Lafosse in 1980. His final F1 race was mid-season at Zandvoort. He continued to race at Indianapolis and Le Mans throughout the 1980s but he was by then in his forties and past his best. He introduced the car at the Winternationals in 1964 and beat Mickey Thompson for whom he would soon be driving. But the programme was aborted and Ongais returned the following year in a Cosworth-engined Interscope. Unfortunately in 1981, he was involved in a terrifying crash at the Indy 500. "The Silent Hawaiian" did not say much but he was quick. In 1964, he was asked to drive one of Mickey Thompson’s dragsters and his second run in the car was the fastest a Ford powered fuel dragster had ever gone. At the same time he was competing in IMSA sportscar events and winning with a Porsche 934. In 1968, he drove in Mickey Thompson’s team of Mustangs to set National and International endurance records at Bonneville and the following year once again joined Thompson on the drag strip, driving a Mustang funny car. Don was around some. He started out as a mechanic and then decided to become a driver. He was soon a frontrunner and in 1977 Field took him to USAC racing with a Parnelli chassis and he won a race at Michigan in his rookie year. He suffered a suspension failure at Indianapolis and had a huge crash which left him fighting for his life. The following year he raced in USAC and in F1, winning five races in the US series and retiring from the lead in the Indianapolis 500. That year he raced Indycars and in 1980 Field decided to embark on a Porsche-supported Indycar programme with a Roman Slobodjnskj Interscope chassis. A year later he returned to the Speedway. Danny ongais – Hawaiian allrounder – from, Copyright © 2019 | All Rights Reserved. Danny Ongais. Ongais is the only native Hawaiian to compete in the Indianapolis 500. In 1965 he became the first man to exceed 200mph on a European track. Total Races: 6: Race … Images added: 66.7% (4.0 out of 6) 66% Complete. He popped up again in GrandAm in 2002, racing a Norma-Ford at the age of 60. A year later he returned to the Speedway. He took a National Funny Car title in 1969, and continued drag racing into the seventies,. This website uses cookies to give you the best experience. At a Hot Rod Magazine Championships at Riverside in order to remain in the competition, he literally pushed his broken dragster the entire quarter-mile on foot (taking one minute and 35 seconds); he would later go on to win it. He was 32 when he decided to try his hand at road racing in 1974 driving a Lola T300 for Eddy O'Brien in the SCCA National and Regional road racing championships. He competed professionally in motorcycle, sports car, Formula One, and drag racing. He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2000 in the drag racing category. At the same time he was competing in IMSA sportscar events and winning with a Porsche 934. He took a National Funny Car title in 1969, and continued drag racing into the seventies, but he turned to circuit racing in 1974 and in the SCCA Road Racing Series he achieved 12 victories (from 15 starts).