Drag racing icon Force injured in fiery crash

DINWIDDIE, Va. — John Force, drag racing's most prolific winner and a contender this year for an unprecedented 17th NHRA Funny Car championship, was injured Sunday at the finish line while driving his PEAK Chevrolet Camaro in the first round of the Virginia Nationals. The Hall of Fame driver and car owner crossed the finish line at Virginia Motorsports Park in 4.100 seconds at a speed of 302.62 miles per hour after winning his first round race when his car suffered a catastrophic engine failure that sent it, on fire, careening across the track and into the concrete guard wall bordering the left side of the track. That impact sent the car back across the track into the right guardrail before it came to rest on its side in the middle of the track. The 75-year-old Hall-of-Famer, who won two of the season's first eight races and is in second place in points behind teammate Austin Prock, was conscious and talking to NHRA Safety Safari personnel immediately following the crash. According to a statement from John Force Racing at 8:35 pm. Sunday, Force was transported by medical helicopter to a nearby medical center for further evaluation in the ICU. His status for the remainder of the season is unknown. This wasn't Force's first brush with a serious crash. Known for his candor, Force has often said "I've been on fire from here to Australia." He survived a notably severe crash at Dallas in 2007, which resulted in life-threatening injuries that saw him hospitalized for more than a month. As of 3:15 p.m. Monday, there had been no further update on Force. The unfortunate crash comes just ahead of one of the favorite stops for the driver, who is in six different hall of fames. The NHRA is slated to be in Norwalk this week for the Summit Racing Nationals. A portion of the grandstands are named in Force's honor, with a picture of his likeness perched at the top at Summit Motorsports Park. Force — who recorded his 157th career win in late April at Epping, N.H. — won the Summit Nationals in 2014, and has been a mainstay at the track for decades as one of the marquee draws at the annual Night Under Fire exhibition. With the well-being of boss and teammate very much on his mind, Funny Car points leader Austin Prock maintained his focus long enough to put the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS in the winners' circle Sunday, where he beat Bob Tasca III in the final round of the Virginia Nationals. On an all-concrete track cooled by an afternoon rainstorm from a second round high of 144 degrees to 107 for the final, Prock used a .049 of a second reaction time to get away first and then unloaded the quickest and fastest run of the weekend (3.921 seconds and 327.90 mph) to get his second straight tour victory. "(The trophy) is going straight to the hospital to John Force," Prock said from the winners' 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." The victory enabled Prock to open up a sizable points lead with just five races remaining before the points are adjusted for the NHRA's Countdown to the Championship. "This is one for the books and there were a lot of emotions today and we had to battle a bunch of adversity," Prock said. "I wanted to get it done for him and this is really special. I'm super proud of this team to get it done with everything that went on and keeping my head together." When qualifying begins Friday in Norwalk, Prock will lead Force by 131 points. In Top Fuel, Brittany Force's bid for a "twofer" at VMP in the HendrickCars.com Chevy dragster ended in a narrow second round Sunday loss to Tony Stewart.