Danny Ongais

Danny Ongais

Danny Ongais in 1984
Born	May 21, 1942 (1942-05-21)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	American
Active years	1977-1978
Teams	Ensign; non-works Penske & Shadow
Races	6 (4 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First race	1977 United States Grand Prix
Last race	1978 Dutch Grand Prix

Danny Ongais (born May 21, 1942 in Kahului, Maui Island, Hawaii) is a former racecar driver from the United States.

1984 Champ Car

He is the only native Hawaiian to compete at the Indianapolis 500. A motorcycle, sports car, Formula One, and drag racing competitor, in 1963 and 1964 Ongais won the American Hot Rod Association AA Gas Dragster Championship and in 1965 he added the National Hot Rod Association AA Dragster championship title.

A flamboyant figure on the racing circuit, Danny's nickname was "On-Gas" for his 'balls to the wall' driving style. He was also known as the "Flyin'-Hawaiian".

He was a Formula One driver who participated in six Grands Prix, debuting on October 2, 1977, and recorded a best result of seventh. In 1996 at the age of 54, Ongais agreed to be the substitute driver for Scott Brayton in the Indy 500 who had died in a practice crash shortly before the race. Starting last, Danny finished 7th in what was his final 500.

In 1981 he had a severe accident in the Indy 500, which almost cost his life. Several arm and leg fractures as well as internal injuries were the result. Then in 1985 at the Michigan 500, he spun on the exit of turn two and barrel-rolled down the back straight, during a race which had several crashes throughout its duration.

Award

• He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2000 in the drag racing category.
• On the National Hot Rod Association Top 50 Drivers, 1951-2000 he was ranked 39th.

Racing record

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Points
1977	Interscope Racing	Penske PC4	Cosworth V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA Ret	CAN 7	JPN	NC	0
1978	Team Tissot Ensign	Ensign N177	Cosworth V8	ARG Ret	BRA Ret	RSA															NC	0
	Interscope Racing	Shadow DN9					USW DNPQ	MON	BEL	ESP	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED DNPQ	ITA	USA	CAN

American Open-Wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

CART

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points
1979	Interscope Racing	PHX Ret	ATL1 Ret	ATL2 6	INDY 4	TRE1 7	TRE2 6	MIS1 Ret	MIS2 Ret	WGL 4	TRE3 Ret	ONT 6	MIS3 DNS	ATL3 Ret	PHX2 Ret				6th	1473
1980	Interscope Racing	ONT1	INDY 7	MIL1 Ret	POC Ret	MDO Ret	MIS1 Ret	WGL 3	MIL2	ONT2 Ret		MEX Ret	PHX						15th	601
	Armstrong Mould Interscope Racing										MIS2 11
1983	Interscope Racing	ATL	INDY Ret																20th	14
	Patrick Racing			MIL 12	CLE Ret	MIS1 Ret	ROA Ret	POC Ret	RIV Ret	MDO 5	MIS2	LVG	LS	PHX
1984	Interscope Racing	LBH DNQ	PHX1 5	INDY 9	MIL 10	POR Ret	MEA Ret	CLE Ret	MIS1 Ret	ROA	POC 5	MDO	SAN Ret	MIS2 3	PHX2 5	LS Ret	LVG Ret		10th	53
1985	Interscope Racing	LBH DNQ	INDY Ret	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	MIS1 Ret	ROA	POC Ret	MDO	SAN	MIS2 7	LS	PHX 14	MIA 6			24th	14
1986	March Engineering	PHX1	LBH	INDY Ret	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MIS1	POC	MDO	SAN	MIS2	ROA	LS	PHX2	MIA	NC	0
1987	Team Penske	LBH	PHX	INDY Inj	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MIS Ret	POC	ROA	MDO	NAZ DNQ	LS	MIA Ret			42nd	0

Indy Racing League

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Rank	Points
1996	Team Menard	WDW	PHX	INDY 7									29th	28
1996-1997	Chitwood Motorsports	NHM	LVS	WDW 13	PHX Rpl	INDY	TXS	PPI	CLT	NH2	LV2		42nd	22
1998	Team Pelfrey	WDW	PHX	INDY DNQ	TXS	NHM	DOV	CLT	PPI	ATL	TX2	LVS	NC	–

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Entrant
1977	Parnelli VPJ6B	Cosworth	7	20	Interscope Racing
1978	Parnelli VPJ6B	Cosworth	2	18	Interscope Racing
1979	Parnelli VPJ6C	Cosworth	27	4	Interscope Racing
1980	Parnelli VPJ6C	Cosworth	16	7	Interscope Racing
1981	Interscope 81	Cosworth	21	27	Interscope Racing
1982	Interscope 03	Cosworth	9	22	Interscope Racing
1983	March 83C	Cosworth	21	21	Interscope Racing
1984	March 84C	Cosworth	11	9	Interscope Racing
1985	March 85C	Cosworth	17	17	Interscope Racing
1986	March 86C	Buick	16	23	March Engineering
1987	Penske PC-16	Chevrolet	Practice Crash1		Team Penske
1996	Lola T95/00	Menard-Buick	332	7	Team Menard
1998	Dallara	Oldsmobile	DNQ		Team Pelfrey

¹ Al Unser succeeded Ongais as driver in the car; Unser won the Indianapolis 500 with a March-Cosworth that had been a show car.

² After Scott Brayton was killed in a practice crash with a backup car, Ongais drove the car Brayton qualified on the pole; under USAC rules, the car had to start last.