[AlvinKarpis]

Danny Ongais, also known as Danny "On-The-Gas", "The Flyin' Hawaiian", but also "The Silent Hawaiian", those nicknames give you a sense of the Ongais enigma. Shy and reserved off the track - some would say obsessively reclusive - he conversely let his actions do the talking on the track, endearing himself especially to American fans for his pedal-to-the-metal approach. Hardly has there been a racer in motor racing history who so epitomised the concept of "all or nothing"

But then came the 1981 Indy 500. The Interscope IP-1, nicknamed by others as the "Batmobile", and fitted with the Cosworth turbo rather than the Porsche, was quick out of the blocks. For several years, USAC had been trying to curb the escalating speeds at the Brickyard, but Ongais became the first man since 1978 to hit the 200mph average. After he missed qualifying on the first weekend, he qualified in 21st but with a time that would have landed him on the front row. Clearly he would be a contender on race day.
So it proved, as Danny charged up the field, leading four laps before making a pit stop on lap 63. He stalled, and by the time his crew got him going again, it had been a costly 46s stop. Perhaps, in gassing it up coming out of his box, he damaged his halfshaft. For moments later, entering turn 3, his car suddenly snapped sideways. By the time Ongais caught the slide, he fishtailed and his trajectory sent him nose first into the concrete wall. The car burst into flames, shedding wheels and body parts as it slid along the wall.

It was the most violent accident at Indy in many years. For a few moments race control was unable to identify who it was. Ongais was left horribly exposed as the rest of the cockpit was torn away, bones exposed on his right leg and his left leg dragging along at a dreadful angle. Danny had suffered terrible leg and internal injuries. But he was alive. As Dr Steve Olvey recalls, "At the time he was probably one of the worst injured drivers to actually survive the crash and get resuscitated at the scene."

The Gordon Smiley crash http://www.documentingreality.com/fo...ctures-108561/ was the most horrifying crash in the history of the Indy 500

But not many remember just a year earlier Danny Ongais suffered a crash that was almost identical to Smileys, same turn, same slide, same overcorrect, same wall, same speed. Ongais was a dead man, However....

Ongais had 3 things going for him that saved his life

1. Unlike Smiley the next year Ongais did not hit the wall head on. The impact was just as bad but his chassis was able to absorb more impact on the side. As you his car was destroyed but he stayed inside his cockpit, well most of his body was inside

2. The Fire Crew was on top their shit that day, seconds after Ongais' car came to a stop the first Crewman ran across the track and a second later the Crewtruck roared up with a crewman getting out before the truck even stopped! They put the fire out right away and while Ongais suffered burns none were very serious, if the crew had not have been right on him Ongais would have been burned badly. This firecrew is awesome, I only wish that the Formula 1 drivers across the Atlantic who lost their lives due to slow, stupid and lazy Fire Marshals during the 1970s and 80s had the Indy Fire Crews to help them

3. The best for last, the reason Ongais did not die is because he is a bad ass mother fucker

NOTE: This is in the death section because Danny Ongais was as dead as any driver has ever been. However due to the reasons above he came back.

[AlvinKarpis]

Pics

[AlvinKarpis]

Pic with his horribly broken legs

[ali_ihsan21]

1. Indy cars 2. Angry bulls

[AlvinKarpis]

Let me change something slightly, the fire crews on the other side of the track where Ongais crashed were on top of it that day

The fire crews on the front stretch however...

[docfr8]

[Steve]

Am I a sicko for finding motor crashes fascinating?

[AlvinKarpis]

Originally Posted by Stevee ↗

Am I a sicko for finding motor crashes fascinating?

Not at all

The driver knows one tiny mistake can lead to death, there is not a race car driver on earth who thinks they are safe when they race

I cant stand watching videos of innocent people getting killed. There are some vids on here that I cant finish

However if it is a suicide video, or a video with the person doing some crazy stunt or skydiving or auto racing, then I can watch those all day long

Because the person is doing it to themselfs, of course no driver who is in a fatal crash wants to die but he knows that it can happen

So your normal

Either that or both of us are crazy!

[Steve]

Originally Posted by AlvinKarpis ↗

Not at all

The driver knows one tiny mistake can lead to death, there is not a race car driver on earth who thinks they are safe when they race

I cant stand watching videos of innocent people getting killed. There are some vids on here that I cant finish

However if it is a suicide video, or a video with the person doing some crazy stunt or skydiving or auto racing, then I can watch those all day long

Because the person is doing it to themselfs, of course no driver who is in a fatal crash wants to die but he knows that it can happen

So your normal

Either that or both of us are crazy!

Fair enough fella. to be honest nothing shocks me anymore in terms of this site, the only things I can't watch are animal cruelty vids I just refuse to watch them it turns my stomach.

[jeremycrpntr]

Originally Posted by AlvinKarpis ↗

Not at all

The driver knows one tiny mistake can lead to death, there is not a race car driver on earth who thinks they are safe when they race

I cant stand watching videos of innocent people getting killed. There are some vids on here that I cant finish

However if it is a suicide video, or a video with the person doing some crazy stunt or skydiving or auto racing, then I can watch those all day long

Because the person is doing it to themselfs, of course no driver who is in a fatal crash wants to die but he knows that it can happen

So your normal

Either that or both of us are crazy!

I would love to see all your pictures and stuff you have! I REALLY appreciate all the time you have spent just to share these with others. One thing... I'm a driver and I'll tell u, really, we don't think about getting hurt or killed. You have to have the mentality "It won't happen to me". We all know how dangerous it is, but honestly that is the last thing on our mind. If we even let the thought of that cross our minds, it would hold us back from being able to push the car and ourselves as hard as they will go. Honestly, even while wrecking, we're not thinking of how bad it's going to hurt or anything. We actually have our brains and hands full just trying to still drive the car and do the right things to minimize our injuries (let go of the steering wheel, try to curl up in the tightest ball we can... etc.) What is so amazing about race drivers is that we actually, most of the time, have to do the exact opposite of what instincts tell us to. A crash happens so quickly, but it seems like forever in our minds. We honestly think about so much, process so many thoughts and make decisions and act on them in just a matter of a couple seconds. It really is amazing, and we truly are "a different breed". I just wanted to share a little bit from someone behind the steering wheels point of view. Thanks again for all the cool shit!