Drag Racing Star John Force Is Finally Home
Exactly a month after he lost control of his Funny Car and crashed into a wall at more than 300 mph, NHRA drag racing legend John Force, 75, is finally home in Yorba Linda, California.
Force was airlifted to a Richmond hospital after the accident at Virginia Motorsports Park. Though Force was awake and talking to his rescuers, and sat up on his stretcher immediately after the wreck, once hospitalized he was diagnosed with a significant TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). He spent about three weeks in the hospital there, then was flown to the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, where he underwent further treatment for his TBI.
The next phase in the recovery process will be outpatient speech, as well as OTPT (Occupational and Physical Therapy) to address lingering short-term memory and cognitive issues, his family said.
“He finally gets to sleep in his own bed,” said daughter Ashley Force Hood who, with sisters Brittany, Courtney and Adria and their mother, Laurie, maintained a constant presence through the Hall of Fame driver and car owner’s hospitalizations in Virginia and Arizona.
Courtney sent a farewell to the Barrow Institute. “Finally saying bye to Phoenix & Barrow Rehab (with) dad! Thank you to all the wonderful nurses & doctors,” she wrote on Facebook. “It’s been one month since his accident & he’s officially starting outpatient care back home! This will still be a long road to recovery for him, but we’re all still so proud of him.” The message was accompanied by photos of Force, wearing a cast on his right arm.
Force, who was second in NHRA points at the time, and who had two event wins this season, was racing Ron Capps in the Virginia Nationals prelims. He had just defeated Capps with a 302-mph pass when his engine exploded, sending the car first into one wall, then crossing the track into the far wall. His parachutes never opened.
His car may possibly return to the track for an exhibition run at Summit Motorsport Park in Ohio on August 2–3, but no driver has been named as of this writing. It will not make an appearance this weekend at the DENSO Nationals in Sonoma, California.
“We hope to tie up all the loose ends and introduce a driver sometime right after Sonoma,” team president Robert Hight told the NHRA. “There’s a good pool of driving talent out there, but obviously, we need to find the right fit for both the team and our sponsors.” Hight, a champion Funny Car driver himself, has taken 2024 off to attend to his own medical issues.
Well John is doing well and his progress is good. He should make a full recover.
Things like this just take time.
They say he gets excited and agitated. lol that is nothing new….
Seriously. He knows family and most of his long term memory is good. Short term normally returns.
I still feel bad for Bobby Allison who to this day can’t recall beating his son at Daytona.
Glad your home we don’t recover as we get older your one badass, I’ve watched you for years more than I’d like to remember can’t wait to see you out and about.
Glad to see he is recovering well.
John we miss you, my daughter had a brain injury, she has short term memory loss, she does real well, raised 3 kids by herself! You will be fine!
The elephant in the room is simply that people who’ve had a severe concussion are more likely to suffer from another sooner even if they feel fine. A soon after ” love tap ” at 20 is not the same as a man in his 70s. I’ve twisted my ankle , for example, numerous times. It has heeled but after a dozen or so not as likely to return to 100%. After 3 or more concussions you’re kinda in the danger zone. Long term effects may then follow. With the numbers the cars are now running? I rolled a Volvo 3 times in my early teens. Serious concussion. The steel safety cage saved me somehow. Still when I got out of the hospital and saw the car I was amazed I was still among the living. I really don’t remember any of it. I tried to for awhile but then assumed my brain blanked it out for a reason. It would be great to see John back at the track but at this point…’retreat is the better part of valor’. He’s contributed more than enough and will still in the owner roll.
One bad dude!!! 75 and still the best I’m 9 years younger than him and I can’t even imagine trying to keep up with him ! He’s made quite an empire with his daughters how cool is that to watch them succeed also!!!!
John Force like Clint Eastwood is a real inspiration to us older guys, we both turned 75 this last spring. Driving a car that will go from 0 to 100 in 1 second and 0 to 330 mph in a little over 3 seconds at our age or at any age is imperative! The latest race I met him at was the Bristol race 2 weeks before the Richmond race where he had the accident. He’s a really nice guy and always has time for the fans. Get well John!