For a generation of racing fans, and for racing history buffs to this day, Rodger Ward embodies the post-war era of open wheel racing in the United States. Kansas-born, he was a P-38 fighter pilot in World War II, then made his name in racing by starring on the budding Southern California sprint car scene. Ward emerged from the regional scene to national prominence and became a star at the Indianapolis 500, the pinnacle of U.S. open wheel racing.