Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Ward doesn 't get to see his parents .roo often anymore, a lt h o ug h th ey just live a few miles up th e freeway. Ward doesn 't get to see much o f a ny bo dy because of his sch ed u le. " It seems like I just sleep here," he says with a laugh. " Whe n I retire from racin g and h ave a family , it will be d ifferent." A family is definite ly in Ward's future. H e wants to have a son so me day so that he ca n give him th e o p port u n ity to succeed in what ever sport th e son would be interested in. Ward has a girlfriend of 10 years, Molly Dal ey, but marriage is o n h old until raci ng isn' t so important. " If I co ntin ue racing for a n o the r I 0 ye a rs a famil y would co me soone r," Ward says , " but it would be wh en I'm sa tisfied with what I've done raci ng. Ri ght now I sti ll h ave a lo t I wa nt to do." 6 1978, a nd he finished seve nth in th e fin al s ta ndings wi th h el p fro m Suzuki and FMF. T he next vear he . began his relationship with ' Kawa- . saki , but h is first Naiional win did n 't co me u n til three years la ter. " T ha t's a lot o f struggling years, " says Ward . But th e strugg le pa id o ff i n 1984 when every th in g ca me togethe r and Ward wo n a l l bu t tw o l25cc Nationa ls a nd to ok hi s first title, Man y more fo llowed. " I don' t th in k I' ve ever been so excited a nd ha ppy a bout wi n ni ng someth ing," he sai d. " We had a bi g party si nce it wa s Kaw asak i's fir st ti tle si nce J im Wein ert won in 1976. It was a lot of fu n, we h ad d inner, got smashed. It was in a hot el. an d we ended u p having a bi g shavi ng crea m fig ht. We even we nt a nd got th e big boss, ru in ed hi s room a nd him." Ward a lso h as th e di stin ct ion of bei ng o ne o f th e few mini cycle sta rs to successfu lly m ak e th e trans itio n to a big-time .fac to ry superstar a nd Nat ional. cha m p . In th e past , quite a few riders have ac hieved star sta t us o n minis o n ly to fade a way whe n they ge t o lder. "Th e problem today is th at th ere's so much p ress u re o n th e kid s," says Wa rd . " Wh en I was yo u ng I got b ikes a nd pa id expe nses for m y parents, bu t n ever saw any money, and I'm sure my parents didn't make anythin g o ff of it eithe r. Now so me of th ese kids a re making a 'bi g salary when th ey're 14 o r 15. They just ge t too much , too soon. "I didn ' t ge t too much, too soon and ge t burnt o u t, I had to build up and learn a lo t a lo ng th e way. Kid s n o w, th ey're o n top o f a cloud an d " th ey run into problems th ey ca n' t h and le, th ey don 't know where to go, what to do, and it just ruins them. I'v e seen a lot of guys get ruined that co u ld've been grea t riders but gave it u p." Ward says tha t th ere was never a ny ' . p ress u re from hi s parents to race. Instead h e's the o ne who wanted hi s parents to tak e him to th e races. H is dad didn't seem to mind, although h e says his mot her wa s a lw ays nervous but supportive, " Isalway s told my fa ther where I wanted to go ," says Ward. "My father loved going to th e ra ces with me an d quit tri al s to take me. I also played football , soccer a nd did everyt h ing as a kid. H e was m y soc cer coach when I p layed, so we rnusr've gotten a long pretty well." (Left) Ward began collecting firstplace trophies at a young age, and at 28 he doesn1 plan fo stop just because he's earned six National titles throughout his 11year pro career. (Below) Ward's busy schedule doesn1 leave him much time to sit bock and relax. When he 's finished racing motocross, Ward would like to turn to Indy ca r racing. H e's already done test sessio n s in Formula Vee cars through his spons o r MacPherson Chevrolet , and has famil y con nections in the auto racing industry. Auto racing is so meth in g he'll get into slowly due to th e busy motocross schedule, and he'd like to ra ce cars while maintaining a position a t Kaw a saki that would keep him involved with th e motocross team. The long, busy sea so n doesn 't seem to bother Ward, in fact he likes racin g every week end. A weekend off is like a month 's vacatio n , and he doesn't m ind travelling to many of th e different ci ties the schedule takes him to. " I love racing , and I always want to be th e best a t it, " says Ward, "I'm n ot a lways th e best and I don 't co ns ider m yself to be th e best , but th ere are times I am. I race for th e lo ve o f wanting to win. I've done it my whole life, a n d it 's as much a part o f me as wa lking. The years may ge t lo n g , but whe n th e new season co mes along, I still ge t exci ted ." W ith a n attitude like th a t, i t's no wonder J eff Ward has been a t th e to p for as lo ng as he ha s. And a lthough he may be getting o lder, nothing short - of a deb ilita ti ng in jury will keep him off the track. •

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