Rick Ward Laid To Rest
September 8, 2009 by BAM Films
Photo by Meg Allen
The soft spoken and humble giant of the sled racing world was laid to rest Saturday. A thousand people crowded the LDS Chapel. People came from all over the United States and Canada to show support for his beautiful family and to say goodbye to one of the best men we will ever know. Polaris had special shirts made for their race team: In Memory Of 7x. Rick Ward accomplished so much in his 47 years. We learned much about this man during the funeral service. The story was told that when he was at the X-Games, ESPN cameramen approached him and asked to put a camera on his sled, pointing backwards. Rick agreed but did not understand why on the back of his sled. The answer he got: “Because they figured he would be in the front!” So the camera crew from ESPN started mounting the camera. The race was to begin withing a few minutes. Rick’s attention was elsewhere when he heard yells and screams. He turned around to find the two cameramen terrified and a geyser of anti-freeze shooting up into the air. They had drilled a hole in his heat exchanger. Anyone else would of exploded in anger at the cameramen who had just wrecked his sled, moments before the race. But not the soft spoken and easy going Rick Ward. He calmly accessed the situation. Few people have the “motor knowledge” that Rick Ward had. He grabbed a screw and a washer from his toolbox and screwed it into the hole the cameramen had just made. Then refilled the anti-freeze. He not only made it to the starting line in time, he is the oldest man to ever metal at the X-Games!
We will all miss Rick. It is hard to believe that next January he will not be at the Preston Hillclimb. But he has passed on a legacy to many of the young racers of today, like Keith Curtis. President of the Jackson Hole Snow Devils, Heidi Tobin, mentioned to me that there will be a memorial for Rick at the World Championship this coming March. I’m sure she will be posting more info later in the season. www.snowdevils.org. We have just posted more photos of Rick on the BAM web site, www.bamfilmproductions.com and we are working on a video. In Memory Of 7x. “If there was no snow in heaven before, there is now”… Babe & Hailey Meyers
Last 5 posts by BAM Films
- Preston Pride Hillclimb - January 25th, 2010
- MWR Season Opener - January 20th, 2010
- Western Racing Featured On Network TV - October 2nd, 2009
- World Champion Killed At Age 47 - September 1st, 2009
- Pebble Creek Hillclimb is a Powder Challenge - April 6th, 2009
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