John Force NHRA accident in Texas

[Bill in Utah]

As a NHRA drag racing fan today there was a bad accident with John Force breaking both his legs, hand and other injuries.

Here is a link with Video. Sadly, he is most likely out for the rest of the year. Real racer IMO...

John Force accident

Hopefully he will come out of this ok.

Bill

 

[Dad2leia]

That didn't look as bad as the top fuel racer crash earlier this week, but it looked bad nonetheless. I just flipped by the replay of those tonight on TV, and changed the channel right before his race as there was a commercial, then got distracted by family as I so often do.

Hopefully he will be Ok, just like Bill in Utah said.

 

[LargeCarManX2]

I have been a drag racing fan since I was a teenager. I remember when the last race in Orange County California happened. I have a good friend whom has stayed with the love of drag racing and has also made it a living and travels the circuit year after year.

I have alway's been amazed year after year how the drag racers....Funny Cars, Pro-Stock, Rails, and others have improved safety wise. The engines put out a tremendous amount of horsepower, and with the advent of the computer aided equiptment guide....these rides are unbelivable.

I have alway's been amazed with John Force, he truly is a nice guy and a good ole boy. May our Creator speed his recovery.

 

[sunruh]

Team Force made serious chassis changes after they lost Eric earlier this year. since those changes, they have had some serious frame "problems" and 2 racers have been hurt. first ashley and now john.
ashley pulled out after her father was injured and with serious thought to the chassis/frame situation.

 

[benjamming]

He "only" broke his left ankle. They did put temporary pins in his wrist to stabilize it.

Why did they transport via an expensive helicopter ride? It wasn't anything life threatening.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Quote:

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He "only" broke his left ankle. They did put temporary pins in his wrist to stabilize it.

Why did they transport via an expensive helicopter ride? It wasn't anything life threatening.

---

He had severe abrasions to his legs and hands, hit a wall going 315 mph and is 58, I think a Helicopter ride is something that was needed.

Since they did not know at the side of the incident what his condition was they had the helicopter used.

It is on standby AT the track durning all events. (same with NASCAR, CART, IRL)

Bill

 

[kokopelli]

I think as with ANY accident, there might be "hidden" injuries that may not be immediately prevalent, and thus prompt medical evaluation is necessary. Also, the NHRA staff doc, according to the NHRA.com report, said that John was asking the same questions over and over which is usually a sign of a concussion.

Any time there is any uncertainty as to the extent of injuries, a MedEvac would be standard procedure, IMO. Plus, another thing to consider would be his age.

Godspeed John, and we hope to see you trackside again soon! If not driving, then at least barking out commands, LOL!

 

[sunruh]

Ennis, TX is not near any place with a "real" hospital.

i've talked with John several times at the Texas Motorplex.

they would helicopter any serious injury out of there. he did not get special treatment.

 

[Lonnie]

The trouble with this accident is that the chassis sheared off at John's hips, instead of just beyond his feet. The effort to protect the driver from vibration by modifying the design almost lost John his legs. The fix for the vibration that killed John's driver almost killed John. This rush to implement safety has backfired just like the IRL fix for the foot box that turned the IRL cars into spears. With John's interest in safety and the fact that his daughter is now driving maybe they can take a breath and do a better job of protecting drivers. Believe me, John will make something happen.

 

[benjamming]

Guys, I wasn't trying to say that John was receiving special treatment. I realize that pretty much any wreck at a racetrack invovles a helicopter ride. Just sayin'...

I agree Lonnie - now John will make something happen. Are the cars required to go through crash testing after new models are fielded?

 

[javacontour]

I can see why, I've been there as part of Contour.org sponsored event years ago. It's out in the boonies IIRC.

Chopper is the fastest way to "civilization".

Quote:

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Ennis, TX is not near any place with a "real" hospital.

i've talked with John several times at the Texas Motorplex.

they would helicopter any serious injury out of there. he did not get special treatment.

---

 

[kokopelli]

hopefully, we'll know more as to the cause of this. regardless of how safe a sanctioning body tries to make a sport, it is still always dangerous, just less so.

of course, motorsports overall is probably safer than us being out on the streets/highways every day.

 

[kokopelli]

John Force has been up and around, and is on the long road to recovery. He plans on being at the next event next Saturday at Richmond, VA in support of his team and drivers. For the latest info and updates Click here!