People are saying he needs to retire. They weren't saying that when he won at New England 2 weeks ago.
Not good news - John Force
- Thread starter TheLastWord
- Start date
He was very lucky. He took a really bad side impact into the wall. Those kind of hits have killed a lot of drivers over the years.
Scott Brayton in Indy Car. Adam Petty in ARCA. And Nemacheck in NASCAR Truck. Just to name a few.
Scott Brayton in Indy Car. Adam Petty in ARCA. And Nemacheck in NASCAR Truck. Just to name a few.
The form-fitting seats, and the bumpers on either side of the helmet and the HANS device that really restrict head movement, do wonders for limiting G-force induced injuries. Eric Medlen's untimely demise was the incident that prompted some of those safety measures.
Of course he will be sore all over for a bit. But as friends at JFR said yesterday, he is expected to be fine.
Of course he will be sore all over for a bit. But as friends at JFR said yesterday, he is expected to be fine.
Nobody has said that he needs to retire because he can't cut it anymore . But why not go out on a high note ? Besides , us old folks don't heal as fast as we used to ..
Glad he seems to be doing okay and I hope he keeps racing as long as he wants.
Looks like he mixed coolants
Or someone left their cell phone battery on the engine
You are exactly right…
That HANS device is the biggest safety development that has helped drivers not die in blunt force crashes. The human spine is weakest in the cervical neck area… A massive hit and deceleration of a human body which creates massive G force on that area did cause basilar skull fractures. The HANS device helps prevent that from happening.
Stanley Smith barely survived a basilar skull fracture at Talladega… I have watched that video and it was a satellite feed race. So you get to watch and hear things while they are in commercial breaks.. And the camera got a look at Stanley and there was a lot of blood on his face and chest… A tell tail sign of a basilar skull fracture injury. The first responders were clearly in hurry up mode and when they took him into the infield care center it was obvious that he was in critical condition. The helicopter was fired up in no time and took him to the hospital immediately…
Interesting that the HANS device was spoken of and used in a 1995 race at Rockingham speedway in a Winston Cup race. The broadcasters talked about it being used in that race and it was in development testing at that time. That surprised me greatly when I heard that on that race about a year ago.
Last edited:
Exactly.
JF didn't crash at Virginia due to lack of reflexes, his motor blew up and it was obvious he had no view of the track, who knows what else went wrong like the rear tires locking up since they are welded to the output at the end of the run.
The guy can still keep a car pointed down the track while clawing for traction....and keeps winning.
No chutes deployed though? Seems like a good idea at the time?, or do they not deploy them if they are crashing in front of the other car?
This is the latest update:
"Sixteen-time world champion John Force remained in the intensive care unit at a Virginia hospital Monday following a catastrophic engine failure that sent his Funny Car slamming into a concrete guardwall at 302 miles per hour during the first round of Sunday’s PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park.
After NHRA Safety Safari personnel extricated and stabilized the 16-time champion, he was transported by medical helicopter to a trauma hospital where he still was being observed and evaluated on Monday. Attending doctors purposely were moving slowly in assessing the extent of the injuries to the Hall of Fame owner and driver because of the intensity of the impact.
Medical staff will not provide a treatment and recovery timetable until a total evaluation is completed. Force’s daughter Brittany, a two-time World Champion, was joined at the hospital by her mother, Laurie, and sisters, Adria, Ashley, and Courtney.
The family will maintain a presence while the team competes this weekend in Norwalk, Ohio. Updates on the 157-time tour winner’s condition will be released at the discretion of the medical staff."
"Sixteen-time world champion John Force remained in the intensive care unit at a Virginia hospital Monday following a catastrophic engine failure that sent his Funny Car slamming into a concrete guardwall at 302 miles per hour during the first round of Sunday’s PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park.
After NHRA Safety Safari personnel extricated and stabilized the 16-time champion, he was transported by medical helicopter to a trauma hospital where he still was being observed and evaluated on Monday. Attending doctors purposely were moving slowly in assessing the extent of the injuries to the Hall of Fame owner and driver because of the intensity of the impact.
Medical staff will not provide a treatment and recovery timetable until a total evaluation is completed. Force’s daughter Brittany, a two-time World Champion, was joined at the hospital by her mother, Laurie, and sisters, Adria, Ashley, and Courtney.
The family will maintain a presence while the team competes this weekend in Norwalk, Ohio. Updates on the 157-time tour winner’s condition will be released at the discretion of the medical staff."
4WD
$50 site donor 2024
Yep, still gets the hole shot often …
Time to hang up the TF Funny car and move into PSM. Stretch his wings in another class. It's funny. Some decades ago I was talking to a guy that fielded a couple dirt sprint cars. He said he hired drivers that could do the job but that he didn't like personally. He had a few deaths/season ending injuries in his cars over the decades he fielded them. I am still unsure whether he was kidding or not.
That's one tough dude! I think he would rather die racing than sitting around watching.
There is a gentleman who comes to our Friday BBQs occasionally who owns a dirt late model that runs usually in Lucas Oil but tonight in World of Outlaws, super awesome guy who also owned a small chain of speed shops back in New Jersey. Years ago he owned a top fuel car and the driver was killed. He bailed on the drag racing and started randomly telling me about it one night.
For reference he is a tough old guy who when his car runs wants to be alone so he can watch it on Flo. Last year he was over and a group of us were with him watching and I was asking what I thought were somewhat smart questions. At the end of the night he told my friend that owns the house "all of your friends are idiots except that one kid that knows Ford parts and is a Larson fan."
I go back and watch to see if he may have created the explosion nope not in my eye he never pedaled it butterflies wide open the entire pull and massive explosion now you are along for the ride I wish him well and hope to see him back but I have my doubts.
What a race that was if I recall John knocked the top light out staging as he will do two full wide open run side by side and beats him with a holeshot if I recall by memory and the kicker was it’s his replacement driver next year.
With the retirement comments people were calling for his retirement last year and basically making a few rule changes because his notoriously crossing the center line.
He is doing what is called "deep staging" where he is effectively shortening the run by a couple inches and taking advantage of a faster reaction time over his competitor.
I hope he's ok. To me, he's like the Rolling Stones, could retire, but why if you're still loving what you do and can regularly do good stuff. He's proven that he can drive and still can. I've often said John should have been an astronaut. It would have probably made NASA self sufficient, I can picture the Castrol GTX shuttle now...
Similar threads
