Roland “The Hawaiian” Leong, Hall of Fame drag racer and crew chief, dies at age 79
Roland “The Hawaiian” Leong was born on Oahu in 1945 and began drag racing in his teens. Moving to California in the ‘60s, he campaigned a long line of dragster and funny cars emblazoned with Hawaiian livery. Leong made drag racing his career and was a feared competitor and beloved friend. He passed away on December 29 at the age of 79.
A long list of wins and historic firsts can be attributed to Leong, who battled and won against some of the most storied names in drag racing. Leong put Danny Ongais behind the wheel of his Chevy-small-block-powered Top Gas dragster as they earned a class win over Mickey Thompson’s hemi-headed Ford at the 1964 Winternationals. After his first Top Fuel dragster pass at Lions Drag Strip ended in a crash, Leong leaned into his strength as an engine tuner and passed the driving duties onto a who’s who of drag racing hot shoes. Jumping full-bore into Top Fuel dragsters, Leong teamed with Don Prudhomme, who won his first Top Fuel Eliminator event driving the front-engine Hawaiian dragster at the 1965 Winternationals. They won again at the U.S. Nationals later that year before Prudhomme and Leong temporarily parted ways and Mike Snively drove the Hawaiian dragster to wins at the 1966 Winternationals and U.S. Nationals.
Moving to Funny Cars to take advantage of the opportunity to match race at venues across the country, Leong built a narrow and sleek Dodge Charger that wore one of the most beautiful Hawaiian liveries yet and took the country by storm. His drag racing instincts and mechanical know-how enabled Leong to compete in funny cars for decades, perhaps most famously with the Hawaiian Punch Dodge funny cars in the ‘80s. Even after retiring from car ownership after sponsor money dried up in the early ’90s, his expertise made him a natural choice for owner Prudhomme to bring on as Crew Chief where he helped Ron Capps secure his first event win. The team’s strong 1998 seasons saw them finish in second place behind perennial champ John Force.
Leong never seemed to fully leave drag racing, lending his expertise to the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series at which vintage-looking funny cars and dragsters compete. You could often find him at a race, hanging out with life-long friend Don Prudhomme; the two kept close even though they’d each hired and fired the other.
Despite his impressive achievements and staggering wealth of knowledge, Leong was always humble and always had time to speak to fans at events—me included. His humor, his wisdom, and his friendship will be sorely missed by his family and friends, as well as fans of the sport he was so instrumental in shaping.
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A true legend whose career is a cornerstone of the sport of drag racing. R.I.P. Hawaiian!
Wow I just got the new book on him autographed.
We have been losing some greats recently.
Most certainly worthy of mention. From that era of Funny Cars like Jungle Jim, The Blue Max , not to mention The Mongoose and The Snake and. When they’d lite em up at the hit of the throttle and power down the quarter. A bit before my time but they still left their impression on ..Oh..Oh ..Oh …Racewayyyy Park! which I sorely miss. We seem to be loosing racers at the same rate as dragstrips. On a positive note Force is now 70…what? and Karam..a..’The Golden Greek’ made his last pass at 89! Maybe there’s a health benefit to inhaling nitro.
It’s a great success story. The car looked great.