Brittany Force said her father John has a “long road ahead” while sharing a picture of her family following her dad’s fiery NHRA Funny Car crash two weeks ago.
John Force, 75, suffered a traumatic brain injury after his engine exploded and his car hit two concrete retaining walls during the first round of the Virginia Nationals. Brittany posted the picture to Instagram on Sunday and confirmed a team statement from earlier in the weekend that said her father would be moved to a rehab facility.
“My dad has made some great progress here in Virginia, but he still has a long road ahead,” Brittany wrote. “The next step is getting him moved to a rehabilitation center.”
Force, the winningest driver in NHRA history, was moved out of intensive care earlier in the week after a stint in trauma ICU and neurological ICU. According to John Force Racing, the team’s namesake has been able to start walking “with the assistance of medical staff members.”
“Although Force is still dealing with cognitive and behavioral symptoms from his TBI, the fact that the Hall of Fame driver can converse with medical staff, family members, and John Force Racing president Robert Hight, who flew in 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 move to a long-term facility specializing in TBI and associated symptoms.”
John Force has won 157 races and 16 NHRA titles throughout his storied 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 most recent two titles in 2010 and 2013. He was second in the 2024 points standings at the time of his crash.
Brittany Force currently races in the NHRA’s Top Fuel division and skipped last week’s event in Ohio to be with her father at the hospital.
