NHRA champion John Force is continuing his recovery from injuries he suffered at the NHRA Virginia Nationals. The 16-time champion’s Funny Car suffered a blown engine near the end of the run then in a fireball shot across the track hitting on the left side into the outside wall before sliding to a stop.
The incident happened just after Force clocked a 302.62-mph elapsed time. The 75-year-old was able to extract himself from the wreckage and was alert and talking with safety workers shortly after but was transported to a local hospital.
Sunday the team issued a statement with the positive news that Force has started to show signs of improvement. According to the statement:
“Early in the treatment process of his Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), he failed to follow the series of commands to open his eyes, squeeze the hands of his care providers and move his extremities. Occasionally, he was able to respond with slight movements, but it wasn’t until he moved from trauma intensive care unit to neuro intensive care unit on Wednesday that he began to gain some momentum.”
The team said after five days under heavy sedation Force opened is eyes and began responding to commands and that “his wife and daughters were overcome with emotion when he murmured his name, ‘John Force,’ and later when prompted, gave a thumbs up.”
