Rodger M. Ward (born January 10, 1921 in Beloit, Kansas – died July 5, 2004 in Anaheim, California) was a United States racing driver who won the Indianapolis 500 twice (in 1959 and 1962), once as a round of the Formula One World Championship.
Ward was one of the few Indianapolis drivers to also enter one of the road race Grands Prix when he brought his Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser to Sebring for the 1959 United States Grand Prix. He qualified last, 43.8 seconds behind polesitter Stirling Moss, and retired after 20 laps with a fading clutch.
Formula One Career[]
Formula One Statistical Overview[]
Formula One Record[]
| Year | Entrant | Team | WDC Points | WDC Pos. | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Deck Manufacturing | Bromme-Offenhauser | 0 | NC | |
| 1952 | Federal Engineering | Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 0 | NC | |
| 1953 | M. A. Walker | Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 0 | NC | |
| 1954 | Dr. Sabourin | Pawl-Offenhauser | 0 | NC | |
| 1955 | Aristo Blue | Kuzma-Offenhauser | 0 | NC | |
| 1956 | Filter Queen | Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | 0 | NC | |
| 1957 | Wolcott Fuel Injection | Lesovsky-Offenhauser | 0 | NC | |
| 1958 | Wolcott | Lesovsky-Offenhauser | 0 | NC | |
| 1959 | Leader Card 500 Leader Cards Inc |
Watson-Offenhauser | 8 | 10th | Report |
| Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser | |||||
| 1960 | Leader Card 500 | Watson-Offenhauser | 6 | 12th | |
| 1961 | No Formula One appearances | ||||
| 1962 | |||||
| 1963 | Reg Parnell Racing | Lotus-BRM | 0 | NC | |
Career Statistics[]
| Entries | 12 |
| Starts | 12 |
| Pole Positions | 0 |
| Front Row Starts | 1 |
| Race Wins | 1 |
| Podiums | 2 |
| Fastest Laps | 0 |
| Points | 14 |
| Laps Raced | 1244 |
| Distance Raced | 5,077 km (3,155 mi) |
| Races Led | 2 |
| Laps Led | 188 |
| Distance Led | 756 km (470 mi) |
Race Wins[]
| Win Number | Grand Prix |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1959 Indianapolis 500 |
Career Results[]
| Complete Formula One Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pts | Pos | ||||||||||||
| 1951 | 
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0 | NC | |||||||||||||||
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| 1952 |
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0 | NC | |||||||||||||||
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| 1953 | 
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0 | NC | ||||||||||||||
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| 1954 |
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0 | NC | ||||||||||||||
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| 1955 |
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0 | NC | ||||||||||||
| Ret | C | C | C | C | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1956 |
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0 | NC | |||||||||||||||
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| 1957 |
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0 | NC | |||||||||||||||
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| 1958 |
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0 | NC | ||||||||||||
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| 1959 |
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8 | 10th | ||||||||||||||
| 1st | Ret | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1960 |
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6 | 12th | |||||||||||||
| 2nd | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1961 | Did not compete in any F1 races | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1963 |
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0 | NC | |||||||||||||
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| Key | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symbol | Meaning | Symbol | Meaning | ||
| 1st | Winner | Ret | Retired | ||
| 2nd | Podium finish | DSQ | Disqualified | ||
| 3rd | DNQ | Did not qualify | |||
| 5th | Points finish | DNPQ | Did not pre-qualify | ||
| 14th | Non-points finish | TD | Test driver | ||
| Italics | Fastest Lap | DNS | Did not start | ||
| 18th† | Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance) | NC | Non-classified finish (<90% race distance) | ||
| 4thP | Qualified for pole position | [+] More Symbols | |||
Notes[]