Danny Ongais (born 21 May 1942- died 26 February 2022) is an American former racing driver.
Ongais is the only native Hawaiian to compete in the Indianapolis 500. He competed professionally in motorcycle, sports car, Formula One, and drag racing.
A flamboyant figure on the racing circuit, Ongais was nicknamed “On-Gas” and “The Flyin’ Hawaiian.” In addition, around the paddock it was joked that “DOA” stood for “Danny Ongais Again” due to his tendency to hit the walls or other cars.[citation needed]
In Formula One, Ongais raced in six Grands Prix, debuting on October 2, 1977, and recorded a best result of seventh. 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. Starting last, Ongais finished 7th in what was his final 500. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Although well known for his drag racing and IndyCar/ChampCar racing, Danny Ongais competed in 6 Grands Prix during 1977 and 1978 and due to his charging nature, was nicknamed ‘On-Gas’ and ‘The Flyin’ Hawaiian.’
Born in Hawaii, he started his motorsports career at 14, riding motorcycles, and became Hawaiian champion in 1960 and was in the top three positions in the expert class from 1960 to 1962.
Turning to drag racing, he was American Hot Rod Association AA Gas Dragster Champion in 1963 and 1964, National Hot Rod Association AA Dragster champion in 1965 plus became the first driver to exceed 200mph on a European track in 1965. 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).
The following two years saw him race in F5000 for Interscope and in 1977 he was in ChampCars, in an Interscope-backed Parnelli car and raced well in his rookie year, including a win at the Michigan 200.
1977 would also see his GP debut, at Watkins Glen, and although he retired from it he finished 7th in the following race at Mosport. 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. 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.
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 and soon after he returned to the race he crashed nearly head-on into the wall. In a harrowing aftermath, the front bodywork had gone and his legs were exposed and he sustained concussion, a broken arm, fractures in both legs, and a torn diaphragm. 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.
His next CART drive came in 1983 and he continued racing IndyCars through to 1987 but crashed while practising for 1987’s Indy 500 in a Penske PC16-Chevy and due to concussion, wasn’t allowed to drive for the remainder of the month.
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.
After an 8 year break, and aged 54, he was asked to drive for the Menard team at Indy, to replace Scott Brayton who had sadly been killed. Due to the driver change he had to start last but finished in a worthy 7th place. He was back the following year, in an IRL Dallara, though was unable to qualify due to a crash.
He was inducted in 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, 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.
The posted photos show him in his Interscope Indy Car while the colour action photo is the Shadow F1 car, at Long Beach in 1978. There were no details for the pictures to credit the photos/photographers.
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.
After moving on to drag racing after his early motorcycle racing, he quickly showed his talent for it and a year later won the Island Championships and received the Outstanding driver of the Year award.
He would move on to become American Hot Rod Association AA Gas Dragster Champion in 1963 and 1964, National Hot Rod Association AA Dragster champion in 1965 plus became the first driver to exceed 200mph on a European track in 1965. He took a National Funny Car title in 1969, and continued drag racing into the seventies,.
During his early days he ran the car almost alone, towing it to races all over the country, building and tuning the engine and drove with only the help of a bystander to drive the push car.
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 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.
His ‘Chevy Too’ dragster was ranked No. 1 in the nation and in that year, driving a Broussard-Davis-Ongais ‘Mangler’ nitro dragster, he won in Carlsbad with one of the fastest runs to date, a 7.62 second quarter mile.
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.
He was nearly unbeatable, winning the Bakersfield March Meet, Manufacturer’s Meet, NHRA Springnationals, and U.S. Nationals. In the early 1970s he joined the Vel’s-Parnelli Jones team and would often race their Top Fuel dragster and Funny Car at the same event.
In 1975, Danny left drag racing to pursue a successful road racing and Indy-car career.
Danny ongais – Hawaiian allrounder – from 
