Legendary NHRA drag racer John Force, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a violent, 300 mph incident at the Virginia Nationals last month, has been taken out of neurological intensive care.
In the hospital where he was flown by air ambulance on June 23, the 75-year-old Force has been transferred from neurological intensive care to acute neuro care, according to a release issued by John Force Racing on Friday.
In the collision that occurred during the first round of Funny Car eliminations, he sustained a cracked sternum in addition to other injuries, including traumatic brain injury.
At the finish line, Force’s car experienced a catastrophic engine failure. The car crossed the center line, smashed into the left concrete guard wall, and then careened back across the line and into the right wall.
Force still experiences moments of disorientation, according to the team’s statement, and he will probably eventually go to a long-term facility that specializes in TBI and related disorders.
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With assistance from medical personnel, he has been able to move and speak, but according to the press release, “medical professionals emphasized once again that the journey ahead will be a long and difficult one.”
Force suffered severe injuries in a racing accident in Ennis, Texas, in 2007 at the age of 58. He has kept up his stellar racing, taking home his second victory of the year and setting a record for the 157th NHRA triumph in New Hampshire.
Brittany Force, the force’s daughter, has won two world championships.
