Rodger Ward

Rodger Ward

Nation:	United States
Automobile world championship
First start:	Indianapolis 500 1951
Last start:	1963 USA Grand Prix
Constructors
1951  L&B Bromme 1952 Federal Auto Associates 1953 MA Walker 1954 NA Sebourn 1955 ER Casle 1956 Ed Walsh 1957 Roger Wolcott 1958 Roger Wolcott 1959 Leader Card International 1960 Leader Cards International 1963 Reginald Parnell Racing
statistics
World Cup balance:	World Cup tenth ( 1959 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 12 1 - -
World Cup points :	14th
Podiums :	2
Leadership laps :	188 over 756.324 km

Rodger Morris Ward (born January 10, 1921 in Beloit , Kansas , † July 5, 2004 in Anaheim , California ) was an American racing car driver .

Career

Ward was one of the most successful pilots on the US single-seater scene in the 1950s and 1960s. Between 1950 and 1964 he celebrated 26 victories in 150 starts in the AAA National Series and the USAC Series . In 1959 and 1962 he won the championship in a Watson - Offenhauser . In 1960 and 1963 he was second in the championship.

Indianapolis

The Lola Offenhauser that Ward drove in his last USAC race in 1966

Ward competed 15 times in the Indianapolis 500 between 1951 and 1966 . Until 1958 his successes were mixed. In 1955 , a broken axle caused the serious accident that resulted in Bill Vukovich's life. Then he considered resigning.

Between 1959 and 1964, however, he finished no worse than Indy 500 at No. 4 in 1959 and 1962 , he won. In 1960 he fought a duel with Jim Rathmann for victory, which he lost by only 12 seconds. Rathmann took the lead from Ward in the 183rd lap. As a result, the two overtook each other several times and the lead changed constantly. On the 197th lap, Rathmann passed Ward again and drove to a narrow victory. In 1964 he was also second; Third in 1961 and fourth in 1963 .

formula 1

In addition to the races in Indianapolis, which were part of the driving world championship between 1950 and 1960, Ward also took part in two “real” Formula 1 races. In 1959 , at the US Grand Prix in Sebring , he drove one of the most idiosyncratic Grand Prix vehicles ever used in a Formula 1 world championship run . It was a converted Kurtis Kraft - Midget with an Offenhauser engine, which turned out to be far too heavy and bulky. Ward, who was last in practice, retired from the race after clutch damage. 1963 he drove a Lotus 24 of Reg Parnell Racing in Watkins Glen , but retired after a gearbox failure from.

statistics

Grand Prix victories

• 1959 Indianapolis 500 ( Indianapolis ) 

Grand Prix results

season	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10
1959
		1							DNF
1963
								DNF

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

Indy 500 results

year	Start number	begin	Agony (km / h)	Result	Round	guide	failure
1951	48	25th	217.017	27	34	0	Oil loss
1952	34	22nd	215.842	23	130	0	oil pressure
1953	92	10	221,201	16 3	115	0	Handover to Linden
1954	12	16	224,403	22 2	105	0	Handed over to Johnson ; Rd 94-160; engine
1955	27	30th	217,306	28	53	0	accident
1956	19th	15th	227.171	8th	200	0
1957	8th	24	227,412	30th	27	0	compressor
1958	8th	11	230.534	20th	93	0	fuel pump
1959	5	6th	231.773	1	200	130
1960	1	3	234,235	2	200	58
1961	2	4th	235.233	3	200	7th
1962	3	2	240.366	1	200	66
1963	1	4th	241.058	4th	200	0
1964	2	3	251.679	2	200	0
1965	2	DNQ					Training accident
1966	26th	13	256.603	15th	74	0	Handling

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1962	Ronnie Kaplan	Chevrolet Corvette	Bob Johnson	failure	suspension

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th
1953	HW Dietrich	Lincoln Capri	SEB	MIM	LEM	SPA	ONLY	RTT	CAP
									DNF
1962	Frank Nichels Ronnie Kaplan	Pontiac Tempest Chevrolet Corvette	DAY	SEB	SEB	MAY	TAR	BER	ONLY	LEM	TAV	CCA	RTT	ONLY	BRI	BRI	PAR
			27		DNF

Web links

Commons : Rodger Ward  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Obituary in the New York Times

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Helmut Zwickl : The fastest. Famous racing cars, legendary drivers. Ueberreuter, Vienna et al. 1974, ISBN 3-8000-3125-6 , p. 109 f.
2. ↑ Photo ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .