Brittany Force said her father, John, has a “long road ahead of him” as she shared a photo of her family following her father’s violent car crash at the NHRA Funny Car Championship two weeks ago.
John Force, 75, suffered a traumatic brain injury after his engine blew up and his car crashed into two concrete retaining walls during the first round of the Virginia Nationals. Brittany posted the photo on Instagram on Sunday and confirmed a team statement from earlier in the weekend that said her father would be moved to a rehabilitation facility.
“My father has made great progress here in Virginia, but he still has a long road ahead of him,” Brittany wrote. “The next step is to move him to a rehabilitation facility.”
Force, the winningest driver in NHRA history, was released from intensive care earlier this week after spending time in the trauma ICU and neurological ICU. According to John Force Racing, the team’s namesake driver has been able to start walking “with the assistance of members of the medical staff.”
“While Force is still dealing with cognitive and behavioral symptoms stemming from his traumatic brain injury, the fact that the Hall of Fame driver is able to converse with medical staff, family members and John Force Racing President Robert Hight, who traveled this week, is an encouraging sign. However, there have also been periods of confusion, which doctors say require time and patience to treat.”
The team’s statement also noted that the “likely” next step would be “a transfer to a long-term care facility specializing in TBI and associated symptoms.”
John Force has won 157 races and 16 NHRA titles over the course of his legendary career. He won nine championships in the 1990s and then won six Funny Car titles in the first seven years of the 2000s before his two most recent titles in 2010 and 2013. He was second in the 2024 points standings at the time of his accident.
Brittany Force currently races in the NHRA’s Top Fuel division and skipped last week’s event in Ohio to be with her father in the hospital.