NHRA great John Force formally retires 17 months after traumatic brain injury

YORBA LINDA, Calif. (AP) — John Force, a 16-time Funny Car champion and the face of NHRA drag racing for nearly four decades, formally retired Thursday night.

The 76-year-old Force’s announcement came 17 months after he sustained a traumatic brain injury in a fiery wreck at Virginia Motorsports Park. A catastrophic engine failure sent him crashing into a concrete wall at roughly 300 mph. The rebound sent him careening across the center line and into another wall.

He suffered a fractured sternum among other injuries, but it was the TBI that forced him out of the car for good after an NHRA-record 157 wins. Force spent months working with specialized therapists on an outpatient basis in California.

“I don’t want to go on forever, but I am officially done with driving,” Force said in a video posted to social media. “I hate to say that word. I said in media so many times, ‘Until this race car kills me, they’re gonna have to drag me out of the seat.’ But the truth is, I was dragged out of the seat at Richmond, and they thought it killed me then. So I’m lucky that I’m back walking, still under doctor’s orders.”

Force will continue overseeing John Force Racing, although his youngest daughter, Brittany, is retiring from Top Fuel competition at the end of this season to start a family. Another daughter, Courtney Force, retired years ago to start a family. Force has six grandchildren, some of them already in racing.

“I got a next generation that will follow me, just like my girls,” Force said.