NHRA legend John Force remains in intensive care after 302mph drag racing crash

John Force races down the track at the opening round of the NHRA Virginia Nationals, 2024.

John Force is one of the greatest icons of American drag racing, but a horrifying crash this weekend has kept the 75-year-old racer in intensive care with no updates as to his current situation.

During the first round of the NHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park, John Force’s Funny Car exploded and veered into the competition’s lane, crashing into a concrete wall at an estimated 302 miles per hour. Force has remained in intensive care since.

John Force’s NHRA crash

John Force had won the first round of the NHRA Virginia Nationals when his Funny Car suffered a catastrophic engine failure. The machine crashed into a concrete barrier at around 302 mph, lifted off the ground, and crashed down on the tarmac again before finally coming to a rest.

Force was quickly extricated from the vehicle and stabilized by local NHRA safety crews before being transported via medical helicopter to a trauma hospital.

Force has remained there since. According to a statement by John Force Racing, “attending doctors purposely were moving slowly in assessing the extend of [Force’s] injuries. Medical staff will not provide a treatment and recovery timetable until a total evaluation is completed.”

As of Wednesday, 26 June, a full evaluation is yet to be completed. Force remains under observation in the intensive care unit.

Explosive engine failures like Force’s are not necessarily common in drag racing, but they are a known hazard in engines designed to push very hard for a very brief period of time. Drag racing engines are high-stress environments, so when failures happen, they are often spectacular.

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John Force’s incredible NHRA career

John Force first started drag racing in 1978, and over the years, he has become one of the most dominant drag racers of all time, with 157 career victories and 16 NHRA championships.

Over the course of his 46-year-long career, Force has suffered a few nasty injuries, including a broken ankle and dislocated wrist during a crash at the 2007 Fall Nationals in Texas. However, his most recent accident in Virginia is far worse.

Force currently owns and drives for his own team, John Force Racing, and is the father of three successful drag racers: Ashley Force Hood, Brittany Force, and Courtney Force.

Drag racing’s place in American motorsport history

While drag racing is not a uniquely American form of motorsport, it certainly does appeal to the American racing psyche in a very particular way. Where European motorsport was founded on the backs of drivers twisting through narrow county roads, American racing’s backbone lies in going faster than anyone over a certain distance.

Much of that comes down to the geography of each region. America is packed with long, flat, uninhabited expanses perfect for racing. The evolution of our society around the automobile meant that many of those places only became available via car. Why not attempt to cover those distances as quickly as possible?

Unlike many other forms of motorsport, drag racing has a low barrier to entry; it only takes two people, two cars, and a specific piece of pavement to put together a competition, which means just about anyone can take part.

As a result, drag racing is an integral part in the American motorsport scene, and men like John Force have helped establish its longstanding roots. Now, even Ford has admitted that it intends to use drag racing technology in the development of its upcoming Formula 1 power units.

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