After the end of his motocross career, Ward still had a desire for competition and turned his attention to open-wheel auto racing in the Indy Racing League. He quickly proved to be competitive with a fourth-place finish in the Phoenix round of the 1993 Indy Lights season and a third-place finish at the Nazareth Speedway during the 1994 season. At the 1997 Indianapolis 500 while competing for the Cheever Racing team, Ward qualified on the third row and led the race for 49 laps before finishing the race in third place. His performance earned him the 1997 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award. He improved to a 6th-place finish in the 1998 Indy Racing League season while competing for the ISM Racing team. 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. He followed this with an impressive second place at the 1999 Indianapolis 500. Ward suffered inconsistent results for the remainder of the 1999 season to finish 11th in the championship. He won the 2002 race at Texas Motor Speedway for the Chip Ganassi Racing team, marking his first and only Indy Car victory. During his open-wheel auto racing career, Ward garnered three top five finishes in seven starts at the Indianapolis 500.