The legendary driver of the NASCAR welcomed the news by taking his daughter out for ice cream on her birthday. John Force has left a hospital in Virginia to relocate to a rehabilitation facility nearer to his home in California.
Brittany Force posted on social media that she was celebrating her 38th birthday by taking a stroll outside the hospital. Force looks to be in a wheelchair and has a cast on his right arm.
Force was involved in a 300 mph incident last month at the Virginia Nationals that resulted in a catastrophic brain injury. At the Virginia hospital, the 75-year-old was initially placed in neurological intensive care before being transferred to acute neuro care. His sternum is fractured, among his other wounds.
At the finish line, Force’s dragster experienced a catastrophic engine failure, causing it to slam driver-side into the left concrete guard wall before tumbling back into the right wall.
After treating his brain damage for fifteen days at the VCU Medical Center, Force boarded an AirMed ambulance on Tuesday and flew for three hours to a neurological rehab facility.
The 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion is still experiencing cognitive and behavioral symptoms from the TBI, according to a statement from John Force Racing, but he has been able to communicate with staff and family. Though he still gets confused sometimes, he had fun celebrating his birthday with Brittany on Monday.
The driver for the Indianapolis 500, Graham Rahal, who is wed to Courtney, the daughter of Force, said on Tuesday that he was watching the Virginia Nationals on TV while getting ready for his own race in California. He stated, “Unfortunately, I’ve seen a lot of crashes in the NHRA,” so he woke Courtney up right away when she was asleep. John has experienced a lot over the past five or so years, similar to Courtney’s explosion in 2017. Brittany also had hers. However, you are aware of when anything is different.
He claimed that Force’s wife Laurie was also present at the IndyCar race, and the three of them were frantically attempting to obtain any details. It was an excruciating day in Monterey, California. Rahal thanked the IndyCar medical staff for stepping in fast to help with Force’s care from a distance. After the race, Rahal asked NetJets for a favor to get Courtney and her mother on a trip to Virginia.
There were just so many unanswered questions: What was the state of his health? And we didn’t start to gain any clarity until about a day and a half later, according to Rahal. “But as much as I would hate to be tone deaf to it—because I am not—these things happen in the racing world.”
Rahal also mentioned something he had never previously spoken in public: it took him years to move past the 2015 passing of fellow IndyCar driver Justin Wilson.
