According to his crew, John Force, the legendary member of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), who was hurt in a horrifying incident on Sunday afternoon at the Virginia Nationals, was still in the intensive care unit on Monday.
After experiencing a “catastrophic engine failure” that caused his Funny Car to explode and subsequently crash into two different guard walls, John Force Racing issued an update.
“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,” the race team stated in a statement. “Medical staff will not provide a treatment and recovery timetable until a total evaluation is completed.”
Force was joined in the hospital by his wife and four daughters.
“Updates on the 157-time tour winner’s condition will be released at the discretion of the medical staff.”
Force was “conscious and alert” when emergency personnel rushed to his side in the moments following the collision, according to his team’s statement on Sunday.
The 75-year-old Force was driving his Funny Car down the track as he had thousands of times before when something went wrong with his engine. He veered across the centerline and hit the wall. His car went back across the line and struck the guard wall once more.
