[1][2] Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Ward moved to the United States with his family when he was four years old.

[1] He appeared in the 1971 motorcycle documentary film, On Any Sunday when he was 10 years old, performing a long wheelie on his mini-bike.

[1] Ward began his professional motocross career in 1978 riding a Suzuki in the 125cc class.

[1] The following year, he joined the Kawasaki factory racing team and, would remain with the company for the duration of his motocross career.

[10][11] Ward retired from professional motocross competition after finishing in third place in the 1992 500cc national championship.

[12] In 15 seasons, Ward won a total of 56 national races placing him third on the all-time AMA motocross/Supercross win list at the time of his retirement.

[13] Ward was contracted to drive for the Pagan Racing team during the 1999 Indy Racing League season and, began the year with a third place at the season opening round at the Walt Disney World Speedway and a second place in Phoenix.

[2][13] During his open-wheel auto racing career, Ward garnered three top five finishes in seven starts at the Indianapolis 500.

[19][20] Ward competed in the Global RallyCross Championship for the Chip Ganassi Racing team in 2015, serving as a replacement driver for former motocross racer Brian Deegan.