wall , Force ’ s car caught air and impacted the right wall before skidding to a stop .
Anyone watching the incident unfold live at the track or on the NHRA . tv live feed knew it wasn ’ t good , and when an update on Force ’ s condition was slow to come out after first responders reached him , it further drove home the point that this was one of Force ’ s worst crashes in a career speckled with fireballs and crashes . A collective sigh of relief came out when the NHRA on FOX cameras showed Force clearly in pain but alert on the stretcher as he was being taken from the car to the ambulance . He was then transferred to a medical helicopter to be transported to an ICU in Richmond for observation .
Hours after Force ’ s crash and a late afternoon rain shower that pushed the completion of Virginia Nationals eliminations into the evening , Prock and the Cornwell Tools team defeated Tasca III in the final round . It was Prock ’ s third win in nine races , and the 28-year-old dedicated it to his boss and friend .
“[ The trophy ] is going straight to the hospital to John Force ,” Prock said from the winner ’ s circle . “ He ’ s one tough son-of-a-bitch , I know that . It ’ s just tough to see somebody go through that , especially when it ’ s somebody you really care about , but I know he ’ ll be back . We ’ re race car drivers and we have to flip the switch . I know John wanted us to be out here , going rounds , and I ’ m glad we did our job .
“ We wanted to get it done for him , but I almost
STILL WINNING NHRA professional racing ’ s most accomplished driver continued to add trophies to his staggering total just weeks before his devastating crash , winning the New England Nationals .
felt like I was feeling the pressure early on in the day ,” Prock also said . “ I drove terrible in the second and third round . This team ’ s busting their tail out in this heat , and I don ’ t want to be the weak link and I wanted to get it done for John .”
The next day , John Force Racing released a statement saying Force remained in the ICU for continued observation . Due to the intense nature of the impact , doctors wanted to move slowly in
assessing his injuries .
Four days after the crash , another statement announced that Force was moved from the trauma intensive care unit to the neuro intensive care unit , where the medical team could focus on his head injury . The same statement confirmed Force ’ s daughter , two-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Brittany Force , would sit out the coming Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk , Ohio , choosing to instead remain at the Richmond hospital , along with her mother , Laurie , and sisters Adria , Ashley , and Courtney .
On Sunday , June 30th , race day at Norwalk , JFR released another update on Force ’ s condition . The news was largely positive , and the good news spread quickly and led to some emotional moments during prerace ceremonies at Norwalk , where Force raced for years in the track ’ s Night Under Fire match race long before the Ohio facility became an NHRA national event stop in 2007 .
“ Early in the treatment process of his Traumatic Brain Injury ( TBI ), [ Force ] failed to follow the series of commands to open his eyes , squeeze the hands of his care providers and move his extremities ,” the statement read . “ Occasionally , he was able to respond with slight movements , but it wasn ’ t until he moved from trauma intensive care unit to neuro intensive care unit on Wednesday that he began to gain some momentum .
“ He became more consistent responding to
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