Stories of the 500: 1959, Two Time Winner Roger Ward

22 May 1997

The year was 1949. The place, San Diego, CA. The event, A 100 lap midget race. The field was studded with many great stars of the speed sport, and among these greats, a lesser-known driver, an ex-fighter pilot who traded his pursuit ship for a midget racing car and his 50 mission cap for a crash helmet. His desire to make good as a race driver nearly cost him his life that evening--he flipped his car in a crash and suffered fractures of the skull, shoulder, arms, ribs and wrist. He could have quit, others have after similar crashes, but for this driver the lure of Indianapolis--its fame and fortune in prize money--and the lifetime of a barnstorming race driver was too great. Rodger Ward, two-time winner of the Indy 500 was and is one of racing's special breed of driver.

The San Diego crash wasn't to be Ward's only brush with death in his long career on the nation's smokepaths. Before his first Indy win in 1959 he had driven in eight races and had gone the distance only once. In the 1955 classic the axle broke barrelling down the backstraight and he flipped three times coming to rest pinned under the car. After his second win in 1962 he suffered a broken back at Riverside, CA race and thought seriously about retiring.

But he didn't retire and in the winter of 1958 he got a big racing break when he teamed up with wealthy Milwaukee industrialist Bob Wilkie and master car builder A.J. Watson. After many frustrating meetings he finally had a sanitary ride--a car that could hang together for 500 gruelling miles.

At Indianapolis the following May, Ward outraced favorites Jim Rathman and Johhn Thompson. The car stayed together and he won in record time. He iced the cake by also winning the national driving championship.

In 1960 he was leading the 500 with ten laps to go but a dangerously worn tire coast him a slowdown and the race win by 12 seconds. Rodger placed third the following year and in 1962 got his second victory in his Leader Card roadster

Bill Maloney and Dudley Bowlby -- The Auto Channel