Kevin Ward Jr is just 17 years old and he is the pilot of the Rider Racing Engines Powered #13 360 Sprint Car. He has had racing in his blood for all 17 years of his young life, and has raced for the last 13 of those years.
In 1998, at the age of four, Kevin was old enough to race his go-kart at some of the local tracks. He got second place his first race and went on to win 6 track championships and roughly 250 feature wins in only 8 years of Go Kart racing.
The following year, the Ward Racing team looked for a new challenge. They purchased a 270 Micro Sprint. His success from the Go Kart days carried over, and Kevin found victory lane in his very first Micro Sprint race.
He went on to score six more victories that year, and finished second overall in points in 2007. In 2008 and 2009 he won the championship, along with another 30 victories.
In 2010, the team moved up to the 360 Sprint Car division. In his first year, Kevin scored five top five finishes, eight top ten finishes, and had only 4 DNF’s with over 30 events raced.
He came very close to winning his first 360 Sprint Car feature in his rookie year, finished seventh in the Empire Super Sprint point standings, and was named 2012 Empire Super Sprint Rookie of the Year.
The following year was event better for Kevin, as he picked up his first career Sprint Car feature win at Autodrome Drummond on June 4th, 2011.
This was a great achievement for the young racer, and most memorable moment of his career to date.
He also won two Dash for Cash events and ended the season with 11 top five finishes, 16 top ten finishes and finished 4th in the Empire Super Sprint point standings.
The 2012 season was a bit of a struggle for the young racer. He did manage to pick up a win at Mohawk International Raceway on July 6th, and captured three top fives and 4 top ten finishes on the season. Ward finished 14th in the ESS point standings.
After a disappointing season the previous year, Ward Jr. was determined to come back strong in 2013.
He returned to victory lane with the ESS on May 31st at Autodrome Granby, and just two weeks later he was back in the winner’s circle in the first ever ESS Asphalt Assault at the Evans Mills Speedway.
2014 looks to be an exciting season as well, as Ward Jr. returns for his fifth season with the Empire Super Sprints.