John Force and J.R. Todd

[5150 mechanic]

Joke.

 

[Leebone]

Courtney posted a video from Gainesville and John walks up says "People keep asking when you're coming back?" I couldn't make out what was said afterwards tho. Likely a nothing burger.

Maybe it's time. Doesn't look like Courtney is interested though.

 

[qualified17th]

I would say "he's just waiting for Autumn to be ready to take over and then he'll be done"

But then I remember when people said "he'll retire once Ashley's ready to take over"

Then it was "he'll retire when Brittany's ready to take over"

Then "he'll retire when Courtney's ready to take over"

Then "he'll retire once Austin's ready to take over"

So who knows at this point.

 

[sammi]

After watching the video a couple of times, I am puzzled why didn't the driver of the blue car just aim it straight after getting in JR's lane.

 

[tom]

I have know Geneva Nash and John Richardson for many years.

They are both long time Top Dragster competitors with literally hundreds of runs between them,.
So I'm not sure what happened to Geneva, but she cetrainly can drive a fast dragster.

John is OK [except for his wallet!] and Geneva was transported to a local hospital for "observation".
I am sure that she got her "bell rung"!

very glad they are both ok. any idea why Geneva did not pull her chute ?

 

[65 Goatboy]

After watching the video a couple of times, I am puzzled why didn't the driver of the blue car just aim it straight after getting in JR's lane.

John's chutes were wrapped around JR's car, at that point I think he was just a long for the ride.

 

[stitcherbob]

John's chutes were wrapped around JR's car, at that point I think he was just a long for the ride.

If John’s chutes hadn’t been caught on JR that head on into the wall would have been devastating. We all could have been talking about something far worse than ability and age….

 

[Pete]

John didn't forget how to drive overnight. Just had a bad day, that's all. It's not like other drivers haven't made the same mistakes. I'm sure he will retire later than sooner. However, who do you put in the car? It won't be Ashley or Courtney. Dan Hood?

The problem is when you have a bad day in a nitro car, people can get hurt or worse. Taking out a cone once in a while is one thing, but consistently? You add in his age and slowing reflexes and in my opinion he should be evaluated for retirement. A lot of people Ive talked to kept saying The Greek drove until he was 92". Yeah, true, but in a relatively slower Top Fuel car...which many say does not take a lot of drive.

 

[TD5023]

very glad they are both ok. any idea why Geneva did not pull her chute ?

She initially crossed over well before the finish line and was fighting it the whole time until she contacted Richardson's car. Just speculation on my part of course, but I'd guess her hands were clenched to the wheel trying to drive/save it and everything happened so quickly that there wasn't time to reach over once it registered that a chute would be helpful.

 

[Scoe]

John just had a bad weekend. As did others. He was relatively clean for a while.

 

[none]

Didn't they make a rule (penalty) against crossing the center line after the finish line but before the 1320 because of John repeatedly doing it?

 

[sammi]

Rock stars, politicians and race car drivers.

 

[65 Goatboy]

The problem is when you have a bad day in a nitro car, people can get hurt or worse. Taking out a cone once in a while is one thing, but consistently? You add in his age and slowing reflexes and in my opinion he should be evaluated for retirement. A lot of people Ive talked to kept saying The Greek drove until he was 92". Yeah, true, but in a relatively slower Top Fuel car...which many say does not take a lot of drive.

What about NHRA's concussion protocol? Looking back over his long career how many concussions has he had? I understand that NHRA has one but what are the rules? I'm pretty sure in Nascar that after a bad crash it's mandatory they are tested. Several high profile drivers had to sit out races last year. Kurt Busch is still not cleared to drive this year after hitting the wall last year in a testing crash.
As others have said, after listening to John's interview is was very clear that he'd gotten his "bell rung". If anyone knows exactly what the protocol is I would be interested to know. This article is dated 3 years ago. https://www.competitionplus.com/drag-racing/news/nhra-contends-concussion-protocol-is-in-place

 

[DragFan2]

To all the John Force questioners out there....

There's something else at play here....

Yeah, I read that several cars were drifting out of the groove besides John Force. This wreck was worse than his tangle with J.R. Still, I hate seeing cars get trashed....but glad the drivers were all okay.

 

[Tito]

Crossing the centerline is one thing, losing your focus and whereabouts of your competitor on the race track is another. I believe the speed and power of these cars has now surpassed his mental and physical ability to react quick enough when in a "compromised" situation? I hate to say, but it is time for John to retire, before he hurts more than a racecar. The next time, it may be the driver in the other lane or himself.

 

[Leebone]

I just read JR's comment on the NHRA website. He's really upset, as he should be. Said he should've stayed home. I'm so sorry he had such a horrible weekend. JR is one of the most likeable drivers in the sport. Keep your head up JR, there will be better days. With that said, I'm thinking JFR owes Kalitta Motorsports some amends.

 

[Dennis]

I'll throw in my two cents since everyone else is...not that my opinion matters in the grand scheme of things

I think there's a lot of undue finger pointing and calls for Force to retire. This wasn't a "reflexes" issue or "the cars are too powerful". The car didn't just make a move that John couldn't keep up with. Watch the replay, the issue is that John tried to drive through the sashaying. Had he lifted, nobody would know the better. I think all of these drivers have made stupid mistakes over time, just as all of us have. Every driver knowingly puts themselves at risk every time they strap in. If I were in the class there's nobody else I'd want in the other lane than a seasoned driver like Force. And I'm not a Force fan or anything like that - just giving an opinion here.

Honestly the scariest thing to come out of the FC class at the Winternationals was Todd's engine explosion in round 1. The NHRA requires the titanium shield on the back of the roll cage of a FC, which makes zero sense to me, but I digress....yet we have a bunch of metal rods holding together a body up in front of the driver. I don't know why the body disintegrated like it did but seeing the body tree hanging there in front of the driver got me thinking - what if one of those rods impaled a driver? Just something I hadn't really thought of.

 

[Notch1320]

Funny Cars have what they call a "Doghouse" in front of the driver surrounding the front part of the driver's compartment. JR said that a lot of debris was deflected by it and he wasn't physically injured because of it.

 

[TSK]

Isn't the titanium shield on the back of the roll cage there to keep tire debris, and other flying objects, away from the driver in the event of a tire explosion?

 

[DanTheFan]

At least 5 cars headed left in that lane. I think there should be some focus there. For the track temps the times weren't that great first couple of days so maybe prep was not maxed out?