LOS ANGELES (CNS) – John Force, a 16-time National Hot Rod Association champion from Yorba Linda, who has been receiving treatment for a traumatic brain injury at Barrow Neurological Institute in Arizona, is recovering at home Wednesday in California.
“He finally gets to sleep in his own bed,” his daughter Ashley Force Hood said in a statement released by John Force Racing on Tuesday.
His wife, Laurie, and daughters Ashley Force Hood, Brittany Force, Courtney Force and Adria Force, have been with John Force for treatment at hospitals in Virginia and Arizona since he was injured in a crash during a race in Virginia last month.
John Force was discharged from the Barrow Neurological Institute on Tuesday. He will receive outpatient treatment and speech, occupational and physical therapy to treat lingering short-term memory and cognitive issues while recovering at home.
He was receiving care at a neurological rehab center in Virginia after spending 15 days in intensive care at VCU Medical Center following a catastrophic crash during a race at Virginia Motorsports Park.
Force was being treated for a traumatic brain injury. He was taken to the neurological rehab center in a three-hour helicopter flight from VCU Medical Center on July 9. Family members said the transfer was considered “to be a major step forward in the recovery process,” according to a statement from John Force Racing.
Force was transferred July 5 to a neurological care unit and out of neuro-intensive care where he was treated for the traumatic brain injury he suffered when he crashed during a race in Virginia.
Force fractured his sternum and injured his right wrist in the crash at the Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park on June 23 during the first round of eliminations. He was taken to a trauma center by helicopter in Virginia following the crash and was later transferred to a neurological intensive care unit for brain injury treatment.
The 75-year-old Force, who was born in Bell Gardens and attended Cerritos College, hit the concrete guard wall at the dragstrip just outside of Petersburg, Virginia at 302 mph. He was taken by helicopter to a trauma hospital in Virginia where he was observed and evaluated for his injuries.
He was moved from an intensive care unit to a neurological care unit where doctors focused on the immediate concern of injuries to Force’s head.
John Force started his NHRA Funny Car racing career in 1978 and won his first NHRA championship in 1990. He won 10 NHRA Funny Car championships from 1990 to 2000 and 10 in a row from 1993 to 2002.
He survived a violent crash in September 2007 at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas that sidelined him for the remainder of the season. He broke his ankle, dislocated his wrist, and his fingers and toes were badly mangled in the crash.
He won his 16th NHRA Funny Car championship in 2013. He won the season- opening event in 2014 at the In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.
Force won the 157th NHRA Funny Car race of his career at New England Dragway in New Hampshire on June 2.
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