Rodger Ward

Interesting facts

Rodger Ward served as a P-38 Lightning fighter pilot and later a B-17 instructor in World War II before taking up midget car racing in 1946. He won the Indianapolis 500 twice (1959, 1962) with the "3 W's" team of himself, owner Bob Wilke and mechanic A. J. Watson. At the 1960 Indy 500 he and Jim Rathmann traded the lead 14 times in one of the race's most celebrated duels, before tire trouble let Rathmann take the win. In 1964, two of his friends, Dave MacDonald and Eddie Sachs, were killed in a fiery second-lap crash - deeply shaken, Ward retired in 1966 after failing to qualify for Indy, saying, "I always said I'd quit racing when it stopped being fun. Today it wasn't fun anymore." Rodger Ward raced in Formula 1 from 1951 to 1963, across 11 seasons as an American driver. He scored a total of 14 championship points over his career.