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American motorcycle racer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jeffrey Ward (born 22 June 1961) is a British-American former professional motocross racer, auto racing driver and off-road racer.[1] He won the AMA Motocross Championship five times and the AMA Supercross Championship twice and the Motocross des Nations seven times.[1] After retiring from motorcycle competition, Ward 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 rallycross. Ward was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999 and, was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on 12 August 2006.[1][2]
| Jeff Ward | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ward in 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |  American | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | 22 June 1961 Glasgow, Scotland | |||||||||||||||||
| 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 | 1st (2002 Texas Boomtown 500) | |||||||||||||||||
| First race | 1998 Indy 200 (Disney) | |||||||||||||||||
| Last race | 2005 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis | |||||||||||||||||
| First win | 2002 Boomtown 500 (Texas) | |||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Global Rallycross career | ||||||||||||||||||
| Years active | 2015 | |||||||||||||||||
| Car number | 07 | |||||||||||||||||
| Former teams | Chip Ganassi Racing, SH Rallycross | |||||||||||||||||
| Starts | 9 | |||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Podiums | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Previous series | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2013, 2021 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 | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Last updated on: 9 December 2021. | ||||||||||||||||||
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Ward moved to the United States with his family 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 125cc 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, Ward 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 at the time of his retirement.[1] In international motocross competition, Ward was a member of 7 winning U.S. Motocross des Nations teams, and a member of 2 Trophée des Nations winning teams.[1]
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]
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]
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 Series, 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]
(key)
| Year | Team | Chassis | No. | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-1997 | Galles Racing | G-Force GF01 | 4 | Oldsmobile Aurora V8 | NHM | LVS | WDW 16 |
PHX | 30th | 69 | [24] | |||||||||||||
| Team Cheever | 52 | INDY 3 |
TXS | PPIR | CLT | NH2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ISM Racing w/ Sinden Racing Services | Dallara IR7 | 35 | LV2 17 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998 | ISM Racing | G-Force GF01B | WDW 2 |
PHX 5 |
INDY 13 |
TXS 17 |
NHM 22 |
DOV 19 |
CLT 2 |
PPIR 20 |
ATL 6 |
TX2 3 |
LVS 21 |
6th | 252 | [25] | ||||||||
| 1999 | G-Force GF01C | WDW 3 |
11th | 206 | [26] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Pagan Racing | Dallara IR9 | 21 | PHX 2 |
CLT C |
INDY 2 |
TXS 18 |
PPIR 9 |
ATL 26 |
DOV 13 |
PPI2 23 |
LVS 10 |
TX2 21 |
||||||||||||
| 2000 | A. J. Foyt Racing | G-Force GF05 | 14 | WDW 7 |
PHX 11 |
LVS 21 |
INDY 4 |
TXS 19 |
PPIR 15 |
ATL 19 |
KTY 6 |
TX2 8 |
11th | 176 | [27] | |||||||||
| 2001 | Heritage Motorsports | G-Force GF05B | 35 | PHX 7 |
HMS 5 |
ATL 7 |
INDY 24 |
TXS 16 |
PPIR 12 |
RIR 8 |
KAN Wth |
NSH 20 |
KTY 10 |
STL 7 |
CHI 4 |
11th | 238 | [28] | ||||||
| Infiniti VRH35ADE V8 | TX2 24 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002 | Chip Ganassi Racing | G-Force GF05C | 9 | Chevrolet Indy V8 | HMS 4 |
PHX 18 |
FON 10 |
NZR 19 |
INDY 9 |
TXS 1 |
PPIR 20 |
RIR 8 |
KAN 12 |
NSH 11 |
MIS 25 |
KTY 16 |
STL 13 |
CHI 21 |
TX2 25 |
11th | 268 | [29] | ||
| 2005 | Vision Racing | Dallara IR-05 | 22 | Toyota Indy V8 | HMS | PHX | STP | MOT | INDY 27 |
TXS | RIR | KAN | NSH | MIL | MIS | KTY | PPIR | SNM | CHI | WGL | FON | 35th | 10 | [30] |
| Source:[13] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Lola | Ford-Cosworth | Failed to Qualify | Arizona | |
| 1997 | G-Force | Oldsmobile | 7th | 3rd | Cheever |
| 1998 | G-Force | Oldsmobile | 27th | 13th | Team Tabasco |
| 1999 | Dallara | Oldsmobile | 14th | 2nd | Pagan |
| 2000 | G-Force | Oldsmobile | 6th | 4th | Foyt |
| 2001 | G-Force | Oldsmobile | 8th | 24th | Heritage |
| 2002 | G-Force | Chevrolet | 15th | 9th | Ganassi |
| 2005 | Dallara | Toyota | 31st | 27th | Vision |
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
| NASCAR Winston Cup Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | NWCC | Pts | Ref | |||||
| 1998 | BMR Motorsports | 45 | Chevy | DAY | CAR | LVS | ATL | DAR | BRI | TEX | MAR | TAL | CAL | CLT | DOV | RCH | MCH | POC | SON | NHA | POC | IND | GLN | MCH | BRI | NHA | DAR | RCH | DOV | MAR | CLT | TAL | DAY | PHO DNQ |
CAR | ATL | NA | - | [31] | |||||
| 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.
(key) (Bold – Pole position. Italics – Fastest qualifier. * – Most laps led.)
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