Danny Ongeys
USABiography of Danny Ongais
Danny Ongais is an American racing driver who has competed in various racing series, including Formula-1, USAC, CART, and IRL. He began his racing career at the age of 14, participating in local motorcycle races in Hawaii. In 1959, he made his debut in drag racing and became the champion of Hawaii the following year. Ongais won the American Hot Rod Association championship twice in 1963-64 and the National Hot Rod Association championship in 1965. He continued to compete in drag racing until the early 1970s when he switched to road racing.
In 1975-76, Ongais raced in the North American Formula 5000 championship with the "Interscope Racing" team. He then moved to the USAC championship in 1977, also participating in the IMSA championship, where he won the Daytona 24-hour race in 1979. Ongais also had several appearances in the Formula-1 World Championship in 1977-78. In 1977, he started twice in a Penske car in the North American rounds, and the following year, he raced in two rounds for the Ensign team and twice failed to qualify in a Shadow car rented by Interscope Racing in the USA and the Netherlands.
After the USAC championship transformed into CART in 1979, Ongais continued his racing career with the same Interscope Racing team. In that year, he achieved his highest accomplishment in the "Indy 500" by finishing fourth. However, in 1981, Ongais suffered a serious accident in Indianapolis, resulting in leg fractures and forcing him to miss the remainder of the season. After his recovery, he continued to compete in CART.
In 1987, Ongais announced the end of his racing career but made a comeback in 1996 at the "Indy 500," replacing the late Scott Brayton in the Menard team. He participated in three races in the IRL championship in 1997-98 before permanently retiring from motorsports. In 2000, Ongais was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame as a driver who achieved outstanding success in drag racing.
