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John Force,

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Originally posted by 2012BOSS302:
At 75 he should be long retired from racing 300+ MPH funny cars, blowing them up and running them into the walls. He's lucky to have lived. Just stop - run the team and enjoy your family members that race.

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NHRA legend John Force was 'conscious and talking' after 'catastrophic engine failure' led to crash, team says
Force, 75, was taken to the hospital

June 24, 2024 11:23am EDT

National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) legend John Force was "conscious and talking" to safety officials following his horrific crash at the Virginia Nationals on Sunday, his team said.

Force was taken to a hospital after the wreck.

Force was in his Funny Car riding down the track, like he had done thousands of times before, when his engine exploded, causing him to veer across the centerline and into the wall. His vehicle crossed back over the line and hit the guard wall again.

"During the first round of Funny Car eliminations at the PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals on Sunday at Virginia Motorsports Park, John Force’s Funny Car suffered an engine explosion at the finish line and then crossed the centerline, striking both guard walls before coming to a stop," the NHRA said.

"Force was alert and was examined onsite by the NHRA Medical Team before being transported to a local medical facility for further evaluation."

John Force Racing described his vehicle as having "catastrophic engine failure" after he crossed the finish line at 302 mph.

The wreck came as Force picked up an NHRA record 157th win three weeks ago. He won No. 156 back in April.

"We’re keeping our pal John Force in our thoughts and prayers. He’s one tough cookie," NASCAR great Tony Stewart, who races in NHRA’s Top Fuel class, wrote on X.

Austin Prock, Force’s teammate, won the event later Sunday.

"(The trophy) is going straight to the hospital to John Force," he said.

"It’s just tough to see somebody go through that, especially when it’s somebody you really care about, but I know he’ll be back. We’re race car drivers, and we have to flip the switch. I know John wanted us to be out here, going rounds and I’m glad we did our job."

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Originally posted by 2012BOSS302:
At 75 he should be long retired from racing 300+ MPH funny cars, blowing them up and running them into the walls. He's lucky to have lived. Just stop - run the team and enjoy your family members that race.

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Originally posted by corsair:

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Originally posted by 2012BOSS302:
At 75 he should be long retired from racing 300+ MPH funny cars, blowing them up and running them into the walls. He's lucky to have lived. Just stop - run the team and enjoy your family members that race.

Was just thinking this...he's got three daughters all involved in racing, along with an entire race operation. He needs to learn to get out of from behind the wheel, and be a chief executive. He's got nothing left to prove or, achieve other than being around for his kids, grandkids and those who he employs.

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Drag racing icon John Force remains hospitalized in a Virginia intensive care unit. Force's team says that the 75-year-old drag racing legend was "still being observed and evaluated" by hospital staff as of late Monday night.

A statement from the team notes that doctors "purposely were moving slowly in assessing the extent of the injuries" as a result of the scale of the 302-mile-per-hour impact. The statement adds that no treatment and recovery timetable will be shared until that evaluation is complete.

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You would think that with all the data collection and automation that they would have the chutes automatically deploy under certain catastrophic events.