Jeff Ward

Jeffrey Ward (born 22 June 1961) is a British-American former professional motocross racer, auto racing driver and off-road racer. He won the AMA Motocross Championship five times and the AMA Supercross Championship twice and the Motocross des Nations seven times. 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. Motocross racing career Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Ward moved to the United States with his family when he was four years old. 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. Ward became one of the most accomplished mini-bike motocross racers of his era. 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. Ward began his professional motocross career in 1978 riding a Suzuki in the 125cc class. The following year, he joined the Kawasaki factory racing team and, would remain with the company for the duration of his motocross career. 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. It also marked the first 125cc national title for Kawasaki. Ward continued to improve in 1985, edging out Broc Glover to win the Supercross national championship and then capturing the 250cc motocross national championship. He competed in both the 250cc and 500cc national championships in 1986, finishing fourth in the 250cc series and third in the 500cc championship. Ward won his second AMA Supercross championship in 1987 over Ricky Johnson however, he finished second to Johnson in the 250cc national championship. 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.