NHRA legend John Force may have survived a terrifying crash that left his car a flaming wreck during a race last week, but his road to recovery will be a long one, according to a statement from the 75-year-old’s racing team on Sunday.
Force suffered a traumatic brain injury in the fiery 300 miles-per-hour crash at the Virginia Nationals when his car experienced a “catastrophic engine failure” as he crossed the finish line, with his vehicle slamming into a concrete guard and going up in flames.
An NHRA statement at the time said Force was alert in the immediate aftermath of the crash, but he was still taken to hospital and evaluated. There, the problems began to appear, his team confirmed. The 16-time NHRA World Champion was “heavily sedated for five days,” and initially “failed to follow the series of commands to open his eyes, squeeze the hands of his care providers and move his extremities.”
