Legendary NHRA team owner Roland Leong, who was known for his Hawaiian-themed fuel-burning Funny Cars and dragsters, died on December 29, 2023. He was 79.

Leong began his career as a successful gas dragster driver in Hawaii and gained popularity locally before moving to California in the early 1960s. At the 1964 Winternationals, Leong's Dragmaster-built rail won the Top Gas competition with Danny Ongais behind the wheel.

A high-speed crash on his first pass in a dragster led to one of the most colorful and successful runs as a team owner starting with Don Prudhomme, and their win at the 1965 Winternationals in Pomona, Ca. The two parted ways in 1966, yet remained friends for a lifetime.

Leong was successful at the NHRA Winternationals and U.S. Nationals with driver Mike Snively before converting his team to Funny Cars, winning consecutive Winternationals in 1970 and 1971 with drivers Larry Reyes and Butch Maas respectively.

Leong's Funny Cars gained popularity on the match-race circuit in the 1970s and '80s. Various drivers, including Bobby Rowe, Leroy Chadderton, Gordie Bonin, Mike Van Sant, Denny Savage, Norm Wilcox, Larry Arnold, Ron Colson, Mike Dunn, Rick Johnson, and Jim White, joined his team.

Later in his career, Leong reunited with Prudhomme in the late 1990s as a crew chief for Ron Capps. Over the last two decades, he gained renewed popularity and admiration as one of the leading tuners in the Nostalgia Funny Car division of the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series. Leong received numerous accolades throughout his career, including his recent induction into the Hawaii Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Phil Burgess contributed to this report.