Danny Ongais, the Flyin' Hawaiian,

[Rick Iverson]

Gents;

Interscope F5000. RIP, friend

[veeten]

A sweet wonderful man
My wife and I were crewing on a low buck IMSA team in 79.
A part broke with no spare, as the team began packing up
my wife took the damaged parts to Danny's trailer for some
welding and fab work . She came back with a big smile and repaired
parts.
After the Friday Qual session was over. Danny rode down on his bike
to check on us.
He found a happy owner and crew .
He continued to visit all the way through 1985, always with a shy smile
and a offer to help out.

[old 59]

Lola T600, sideways out of T10 at Mosport every lap…it was awesome!!
RIP Danny On-the-gas

[Bardahl77]

The first race I ever worked was Laguna Seca in 1977 for the IMSA GT race. Hobbs was on pole with the flame-spitting BMW, but I was hoping for the Chevy Monzas. In the black Interscope 934 #0, Ongias got past Hobbs and set off into the distance. I was amazed that Danny was so fast, I remember seeing him in drag racing magazines, when he was running Mickey Thompson's radical Mustang funny car. Who knew the frag racer could make turns?

Aloha and mahalo, brah.

[Phil Creighton]

Danny would stop at our shop back in the 90s on the way from Florida to ??? Met him first in the John Paul 935 days as a fierce competitor at Interscope. A quiet gentle man - we always appreciated his visits.
Phil

[John LaRue]

In 98 I got Danny to drive for the team I was managing at Indy. Unfortunately a left lower rear a-arm broke from a faulty weld and put him into the wall on a warm up lap in practice. He suffered a concussion and wasn't cleared to return to the car. I got John Paul Jr. (who was ahead of me in the same high school) to take over. Quite a month of May. Danny was a big fan of Sharon as she was of him. .

[zcars]

Very first race I watched in person was in the Poconos in 1982 and winner was a black Porshe driven by Danny !
R.I.P.

[E1pix]

Danny was awesome, in the car and out.

I didn't know him much, beyond selling him some prints when 16. I first heard of him as a Funny Car driver from a friend who went to the Indy Nats every year, then he showed up at the Runoffs in I think 1974 in a Vel's Parnelli Jones Lola, Andretti's backup I think, qualifying in the So Pac division.

I recall him being quick, but don't think he started that race and/or the year after, not sure if he ran once or twice nor if it was '74 or just '75.

He somewhat burst into full-time F5000 in 1976, and was fast, and really spectacular, straight off. I think he went straight to IndyCar the next year, running the Interscope car for Hollywood producer Ted Field, as he had in F5000. Badass Penske car, fitting pilot.

Danny was very fast in Indy cars, and if the world was fairer, he should have won at least one Indy 500. He also, almost rightfully should have been killed at Indy in 1981 in the one-off Interscope "Batmobile" car. He was incredibly lucky to survive that, and if memory serves, crashed out of the lead or for sure very high up.

In 2014, we went to our first World of Outlaws race in at least 25 years, at Skagit Speedway north of Seattle. I got to talking with a guy from Hawaii, turns out be was longtime friends with the Flyin' Hawaiian. Did not expect that!

By that name or Danny-on-the-Gas, he was one special driver.

RIP, Danny.

[frnkeore]

I'm very late on this. I hadn't heard of Danny passing. It's very sad to hear. He was a very nice, shy and unassuming guy.

I was a friend of his in the Cal Club, from Nov of '73, until some time in '75. My first drivers school, in my FB/FA, was his second, at Willow Springs. My brother pitted for me and we were both drag racers before that so, we immediately knew who he was and couldn't wait to say "hi" to him, after the drivers meeting. I don't remember him having Carrol Smith with him at the school but, he wrench for Danny at the regionals. in his #4, 300 Lola. Danny said that Parnelli loaned it to him and I can only assume, Carrol, as well.

He went on to race another 300, mid to late '74 but, I don't remember who's car it was. Seems the guy was a little portly and that's all I remember. Ted Fields pick Danny up, by early '75 and bought both of them new 330's but, Fields skills, were not that great. Last I saw of him, was when a tow truck, turned him over on the back straight at Riverside.

I, of course followed Danny, in Pro F5000 and Indy Car. I was out camping in '81 and could only lesson on the radio when he hit the wall, at Indy. I knew it was bad, they said it was a hard hit and then, wouldn't talk about it much. I didn't know what it looked like, until later. It was said that a wheel bearing locked up, by my Cal Club friends but, heard other things also, later.
This is a picture of Danny and Carrol, dated March '74 but, the race could have been in Feb, as I had to have it developed.Instamatic camera, I wasn't into taking pictures then

Rest in peace, my friend. I cherish knowing you.

[Gary Jarlson]

I was fortunate enough to share the track with Danny at a couple of nationals and the Runoffs in '74. He was always courteous on the track although he probably couldn't fathom how anyone would enjoy going as slow as us FC and FSV drivers. The first Runoffs practice and I'm dawdling down the back straight, my focus entirely on a wildly fluctuating fuel pressure gauge. Thundering up from behind came Ongais and Jerry Hansen in their FA Lolas (Danny's still in Mario's Viceroy colors.) Just before the crest, they blew by me on either side at some unbelievable rate of speed. If I had not been belted in, I surely would have stood straight up in the car. Later, when i walked by his paddock spot, he waved and gave me a big grin.

[E1pix]

Thanks for sharing your memories, Guys.

If my memory serves, I believe the T300 was bought from Chuck Jones (Jones-Eisert Racing), hence that team’s signature orange paint they used on later entries for Bob Muir, Graham McRae, and even Clay Regazzoni.

I spectated at the ‘74 Runoffs and it seems Ongais was listed in a T300, but actually ran a VPJ (Vel’s Parnelli Jones) T332.

Thanks again.

I'm very late on this. I hadn't heard of Danny passing. It's very sad to hear. He was a very nice, shy and unassuming guy.

I was a friend of his in the Cal Club, from Nov of '73, until some time in '75. My first drivers school, in my FB/FA, was his second, at Willow Springs. My brother pitted for me and we were both drag racers before that so, we immediately knew who he was and couldn't wait to say "hi" to him, after the drivers meeting. I don't remember him having Carrol Smith with him at the school but, he wrench for Danny at the regionals. in his #4, 300 Lola. Danny said that Parnelli loaned it to him and I can only assume, Carrol, as well.

He went on to race another 300, mid to late '74 but, I don't remember who's car it was. Seems the guy was a little portly and that's all I remember. Ted Fields pick Danny up, by early '75 and bought both of them new 330's but, Fields skills, were not that great. Last I saw of him, was when a tow truck, turned him over on the back straight at Riverside.

I, of course followed Danny, in Pro F5000 and Indy Car. I was out camping in '81 and could only lesson on the radio when he hit the wall, at Indy. I knew it was bad, they said it was a hard hit and then, wouldn't talk about it much. I didn't know what it looked like, until later. It was said that a wheel bearing locked up, by my Cal Club friends but, heard other things also, later.
This is a picture of Danny and Carrol, dated March '74 but, the race could have been in Feb, as I had to have it developed.Instamatic camera, I wasn't into taking pictures then

Rest in peace, my friend. I cherish knowing you.

[veeten]

Folks
Any of us who worked with Indy cars and IMSA in the 70s and 80s got the best of racing,
Real drivers with big personalities and generous smiles.
R.I.P Danny and JP.

[t walgamuth]

I always thought the bad wreck at Indy was from a broken half shaft. He was definitely in contention for the win at that point in the race. The shot of him limp in the spinning tab with his legs hanging out past his knees was very sobering. He was indeed lucky to survive that.

He was electrifying to watch!

[Rick Kirchner]

At one of the VARA at Cal Speedway races I spoke with a gent who claimed to be a fabricator on the Batmobile. He was with a guy that owned a Parnelli used as the development buck for the flat six Porsche engine that was supposed to go in the Batmobile before USAC gave them the boost numbers they were going to be allowed to run.

He said that they used helicopter rotor shaft bearings in the rear uprights, and they were inadequate. He and another friend who crewed on Indy Cars at the time said they had issues with that car because it produced so much more downforce than anything else out there.

He said the team believed it was rear wheel bearing failure.

However... This got me looking into it a bit - and I found this quote on his wiki:

"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. After finally leaving the pits, Ongais approached a slower car at the end of the backstretch. He made a late pass going into turn 3. Carrying too much speed out of the turn, the car drifted out into the grey and the back end began to slide. Ongais tried to correct the slide by turning right, and the car hooked to the right and crashed nearly head-on into the wall."

If you find the right youTube video, this appears to be exactly what happened. He made a late low pass at the entry to 3 and probably couldn't turn down to the apex or he'd pinch it, so he waited a bit, drifted up, the back came out and he corrected, putting him nearly nose first into the wall.

There were a lot of halfshaft and CV joint failures in that era though - wacky shaft angles and stuff like dumping the exhaust across the shaft. I guess they figured the air through the tunnels would be adequate to cool it off....