Born in Kahului, Ongais got his start racing motorcycles, and returned from a stint as a U.S. Army paratrooper to win the Hawaiian state motorcycle championship in 1960.
More success on two wheels followed, but he wasted little time in branching out and added AHRA Gas Dragster titles to his resume in 1963 and 1964, followed by the NHRA AA Dragster championship the following year.
A switch to Funny Cars later in the decade yielded two wins in a Ford Mustang for team owner Mickey Thompson in 1969. The Ongais/Thompson combination would prove to be even more potent on the speed record circuit, where they used a Mach 1 Mustang to set nearly 300 national and international records on the Bonneville Salt Flats.
At the 1966 U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Ongais took runner-up in the Top Fuel class to Mike Snively after triumphing over series legend Don Prudhomme in the semifinals. Three years later, now competing in Funny Car, he left IRP a champion in the blue Ford March 1 Mustang of Mickey Thompson. After adding nearly 300 national and international speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats in the Mach 1 with the help of Thompson, Ongais was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2000 for drag racing.
By that point Ongais had already taken a swing at the Indy 500, but was turned away from the 1968 race on the basis of his almost complete lack of experience in open-wheelers. But his time in Europe with the Army had opened his eyes to road racing, and in the mid-1970s he began working up through the ranks of the American scene. His dominance of the 1974 SCCA season put him on the radar of entertainment mogul Ted Field.
After further success in F5000, the pair went into USAC and Indy car racing in 1976 under the Interscope Racing banner. Ongais made his debut at Ontario that year, and claimed his first win the following season at Michigan. He added an additional five victories in 1978 – more than anyone else in the field – but mechanical problems and inconsistency left him eighth in the points.
Being the only Hawaiian among the 784 drivers who have started the Indianapolis 500 earned Ongais the famous nickname "The Flyin' Hawaiian." He made 11 Indianapolis 500 starts over three decades with four top-10 finishes.
No comments:
Post a Comment