John Force Seriously Injured at NHRA Event

[New_Mexico_Sunset_on_Rt66]

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j...zrYOHg1G1Ixfug

John Force Seriously Hurt at NHRA Event

DALLAS (AP) — Drag-racing star John Force was alert and conscious Sunday after sustaining serious injuries in a wreck with Funny Car rival Kenny Bernstein during the O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex in Ennis.

Team spokesman Elon Werner said the 58-year-old Force broke his left ankle and his left wrist and suffered a severe abrasion to his right knee.

"John's chassis broke in half and the engine and front two wheels were over in Kenny's lane, and that's what Kenny hit," Werner said.

Force, a 14-time champion, was airlifted to Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, where Werner said doctors planned surgery Sunday night to clean up the abrasions and possibly set the broken bones.

"He was alert and obviously in a lot of pain, but the whole time he was asking questions. His primary concern was for Kenny Bernstein," Werner said.

Werner said a CT scan came back negative for internal injuries. He also said Force sustained some minor fractures and severe abrasions to the tips of his fingers.

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http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j...zrYOHg1G1Ixfug

Here's ESPN coverage with video of the race. Nasty ****. I wish the best for John.
http://jalopnik.com/cars/drag-racing...xas-302814.php

[86fleet]

Sounds painful, but considering the nature of the sport and of the accident, he faired pretty well

[69Chevy]

That was a horrible crash, I saw it on NHRA.com then watched it on air. He faired incredibly well considering his legs were pretty much completly exposed. When they hauled the back half of the chassis off there was nothing forward of the seat bottom. He's a strong willed guy and I'm sure will be fine but my thoughts and prayers go out to him, his family and team.

[spaz]

scary stuff and even scarier is that it involved 2 of the most famous NHRA competitors of all time

[61BelAir]

considering the amount of horsepower these cars make i'm surprised more accidents such as this one don't happen more often

[69Chevy]

Originally Posted by 61BelAir

considering the amount of horsepower these cars make i'm surprised more accidents such as this one don't happen more often

Just goes to show how safe these cars really are.

[jomo]

Originally Posted by spaz

scary stuff and even scarier is that it involved 2 of the most famous NHRA competitors of all time

Scarier is that he now has his daughter doing this job. I'd hate to be his wife. You see something like this happen to your husband, you have to be twice as scared to see your daughter climb into one of these cars.