Jeff Ward (motorsports)

Jeff Ward
Ward in 2007
Born	(1961-06-22) 22 June 1961 Glasgow, Scotland
Global Rallycross career
Years active	2015
Teams	SH Rallycross
Car no.	07
Former teams	Chip Ganassi Racing
Starts	9
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Previous series
2013 2009 2009 2005 1998–2002 1999 1998–1999 1992–1997	Stadium Super Trucks Rolex Sports Car Series Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series IndyCar Series Indy Racing League NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour NASCAR Winston West Series Indy Lights
Awards
2006 1999	Motorsports Hall of Fame of America Motorcycle Hall of Fame
Nationality	American
Motocross career
Years active	1978–1992
Teams	Kawasaki
Championships	125cc (1984) 250cc (1985, 1988) 250 SX (1985, 1987) 500cc (1989, 1990)
Wins	56
IndyCar Series career
61 races run over 7 years
Best finish	5th (1998)
First race	1998 Indy 200 (Disney)
Last race	2005 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis
First win	2002 Boomtown 500 (Texas)
Wins Podiums Poles 1 8 2
Medal record Representing  United States Summer X Games 2006 Los Angeles Moto X Super Moto 2008 Los Angeles Moto X Super Moto 2007 Los Angeles Moto X Super Moto

Jeff Ward (born 22 June 1961) is a British-American former professional motocross racer, auto racing driver and off-road racer.^[1] He won a record total of seven AMA motocross national championships.^[1] After retiring from motorcycle competition, he turned to auto racing, finishing in second place at the Indianapolis 500 and winning a race at the Texas Motor Speedway. He then competed in off-road truck racing and is currently competing in rallycross racing. Ward was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999 and, was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on August 12, 2006.^[1][2]

Motocross racing career

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Ward's family moved to the United States when he was four years old.^[1] He began to compete in mini-bike motocross racing in Southern California in the 1960s, just as the sport of motocross was experiencing a burgeoning popularity in the United States.^[1] Ward became one of the most accomplished mini-bike motocross racers of his era.^[1] He appeared in the 1971 motorcycle documentary film, On Any Sunday when he was 10 years old, performing a long wheelie on his mini-bike.^[1] Ward began his professional motocross career in 1978 riding a Suzuki in the 125 class.^[1] The following year, he joined the Kawasaki factory racing team and, would remain with the company for the duration of his motocross career.^[1]

Ward won his first AMA national in 1982 and, in 1984 he won his first AMA national championship in the 125cc class, winning eight out of 10 races.^[1] It also marked the first 125cc national title for Kawasaki.^[1] Ward continued to improve in 1985, edging out Broc Glover to win the Supercross national championship and then capturing the 250cc motocross national championship.^[3][4] He competed in both the 250cc and 500cc national championships in 1986, finishing fourth in the 250cc series and third in the 500cc championship.^[5] Ward won his second AMA Supercross championship in 1987 over Ricky Johnson however, he finished second to Johnson in the 250cc national championship.^[6][7] The rivalry with Johnson continued in the 1988 250cc motocross national championship with both Ward and Johnson winning three races, but Ward prevailed by seven points to claim the championship over Johnson.^[8]

In 1989, Ward finished second to Jeff Stanton in the 250cc national championship but, defeated Stanton in the 500cc championship thus, becoming the first rider to win AMA motocross national championships in the 125, 250 and 500cc classes.^[1][9] He successfully defended his 500cc crown in 1990 then, finished second in the 1991 500cc championship, nine points behind Jean-Michel Bayle.^[10][11] Ward retired from professional motocross competition after finishing in third place in the 1992 500cc national championship.^[12] In 15 seasons, he won a total of 56 national races placing him third on the all-time AMA motocross/Supercross win list at the time of his retirement.^[1] He won a total of seven AMA national championships, tying Bob Hannah and Ricky Johnson for the most career motocross and Supercross championships.^[1] In international motocross competition, Ward was a member of seven winning U.S. Motocross des Nations teams.^[1]

Auto racing career

After the end of his motocross career, Ward still had a desire for competition and turned his attention to open-wheel auto racing in the Indy Racing League.^[2] He quickly proved to be competitive with a fourth-place finish in the Phoenix round of the 1993 Indy Lights season and a third-place finish at the Nazareth Speedway during the 1994 season.^[13] At the 1997 Indianapolis 500 while competing for the Cheever Racing team, Ward qualified on the third row and led the race for 49 laps before finishing the race in third place.^[2] His performance earned him the 1997 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award.^[14] He improved to a 6th-place finish in the 1998 Indy Racing League season while competing for the ISM Racing team.^[13] Ward was contracted to drive for the Pagan Racing team during the 1999 Indy Racing League season and, began the year with a third place at the season opening round at the Walt Disney World Speedway and a second place in Phoenix.^[13] He followed this with an impressive second place at the 1999 Indianapolis 500.^[2] Ward suffered inconsistent results for the remainder of the 1999 season to finish 11th in the championship.^[13] He won the 2002 race at Texas Motor Speedway for the Chip Ganassi Racing team, marking his first and only Indy Car victory.^[2][13] During his open-wheel auto racing career, Ward garnered three top five finishes in seven starts at the Indianapolis 500.^[13]

Return to motorcycle racing

At the age of 43, Ward returned to motorcycle racing and won the 2004 AMA Supermoto Championship competing against riders half his age.^[1] He won a second Supermoto championship in 2006 at the age of 45.^[15] Ward also won the Moto X category at the 2006 X Games, becoming the oldest male gold medalist and the oldest Moto X medalist in X Games history.^[16] In 2008, he repeated as the winner of the Moto X category of the 2008 X Games.^[17]

Off-road racing

From Indy Car racing, Ward progressed to off-road truck racing, competing in the 2009 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series for the Speed Technologies team.^[18] He also competed in the 2013 Stadium Super Trucks season, finishing 10th in the inaugural race at University of Phoenix Stadium.^[19][20] Ward competed in the Global RallyCross Championship for the Chip Ganassi Racing team in 2015, serving as a replacement driver for former motocross racer Brian Deegan.^[21][22]

Awards and championships

Awards

• Ward was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.^[1]
• Ward was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on August 12, 2006.^[2]

Championships

AMA Motocross / Supermoto

• 1984—Won AMA 125cc national motocross title.
• 1985—Won AMA national 250cc motocross and Supercross titles.
• 1987—Won second AMA national 250cc Supercross championship.
• 1988—Captured second AMA national 250cc motocross title.
• 1989—Won AMA national 500cc motocross championship to become first rider in history to win every major AMA national motocross title.
• 1990—Won second consecutive AMA national 500cc motocross championship.
• 2004—Won AMA Supermoto Championship at 43 years of age.
• 2006—Won X-Games Supermoto Championship at 45 years of age.
• 2006—Won AMA Supermoto Championship (second title)
• 2008—Won X-Games Supermoto Championship at 47 years of age (second title).

Indy Racing League

• 1997—Finished third at Indianapolis 500 in maiden effort, finished 30th in IRL season point standings.
• 1998—Earned career-first pole position at Phoenix IRL race, four top five finishes, finished career-best 6th in IRL season point standings.
• 1999—Finished career-best second at Indianapolis 500, three top five finishes, finished 11th in IRL season point standings.
• 2000—Finished fourth at Indianapolis 500, two top five finishes, finished 11th in IRL season point standings.
• 2001—Two top five finishes, finished 11th in IRL season point standings.
• 2002—Winner of Boomtown 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, finished ninth at Indianapolis 500, two top five finishes, finished 11th in IRL season point standings.

Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

• 2009—Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Rookie of the Year
• 2009—Dirt Sports Rookie of the Year
• 2009—2nd Place in Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Championship, behind by 1 point

Racing record

American Open Wheel

(key)

IndyCar results^[13]

Indianapolis 500 results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

Complete Global RallyCross Championship results

Supercar

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	GRC	Points
2015	Chip Ganassi Racing	Ford Fiesta ST	FTA	DAY1 6	DAY2 4	MCAS	DET1	DET2	DC 9	LA1	LA2	BAR1	BAR2	LV	NC	-
2016	SH Rallycross	Ford Fiesta ST	PHO1 7	PHO2 8	DAL 9	DAY1 5	DAY2 7	MCAS1 9	MCAS2	DC	AC	SEA	LA1	LA2	9th	134

Race cancelled.

References

External links

• Jeff Ward driver statistics at Racing-Reference