John force (2 Viewers)

[superman]

With his legacy and being the face of the sport for so long it has amazed me the updates have become few and far between. Honestly, it makes me wonder if it did something to his speech or why would they be keeping him " hidden" i figured one of his daughters would have at least posted a quick video of him to their social media platforms of him saying good luck to jack and to drive that hot rod to the finals or something along those lines just for a publicity stand point

 

[Cliff]

Brain injuries do strange things to people. Some recover, some partially, some never.

 

[ZWeinstein]

The conversation of head injuries once again has come up in the sports world with what happened again to Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa last night, his third concussion since the start of his NFL career plus a few in college. It has me thinking about John and what he is going through. Having bonked my head a few times in my life I suffer from some complications from the head injuries Ive had, thankfully nothing permanent but that next one could be catastrophic. Its why athletes have walked away in the past, you could even look to the racing world and Dale Jr. and Kurt Busch. I've said it before possibly on this thread but all I hope for John is that he lives a long life enjoying his family and grandchildren with no major complications, that is all I want from the man who has given all of us so many wonderful memories over the years. I've also believed this was the only way he was ever getting out of the car, I believe he was never leaving on his own, it was going to be his family or doctors telling him no more or the other worst case most unimaginable scenario.

 

[mick]

^ this - thanks zed

 

[J. S.]

With his legacy and being the face of the sport for so long it has amazed me the updates have become few and far between. Honestly, it makes me wonder if it did something to his speech or why would they be keeping him " hidden" i figured one of his daughters would have at least posted a quick video of him to their social media platforms of him saying good luck to jack and to drive that hot rod to the finals or something along those lines just for a publicity stand point

I'm afraid this is probably the case. We can only hope that with time, we get the full-strength John Force back for years to come, but no longer driving. I would be very happy with that. Just having John around as he has been for so many years would be a relief, but I'm sure no one knows at this point how far the recovery will go, and how long it may take. But I think no news means there really isn't any news and there's not much progress so far. We just have to keep him in our thoughts and in our hearts.

 

[z28]

I'm afraid this is probably the case. We can only hope that with time, we get the full-strength John Force back for years to come, but no longer driving. I would be very happy with that. Just having John around as he has been for so many years would be a relief, but I'm sure no one knows at this point how far the recovery will go, and how long it may take. But I think no news means there really isn't any news and there's not much progress so far. We just have to keep him in our thoughts and in our hearts.

Based on his injury he's probably progressing fine.

 

[Randy]

You're acting like I'm making the decision if he drives again or not. I was merely expressing an opinion that probably many others have.

I'm not much for "acting." I merely said, "That may be so, but I'm thinking...," meaning what you said may be true, but here's my opinion.

Regardless, if that's your takeaway from my comment, I can't help you.

 

[twostep]

I don't think he'll be cleared to drive again (be it Dr or Family), hope I'm wrong but assuming that.
Dream scenariois then one last full track burnout into a retirement where he is fully recovered and can run his teams.

I hope he retires from driving. I think enough of John Force to suggest - I repeat, suggest; it's obviously not my call - that he not climb back into a cruise missile, one capable of repeating the same scenario that sidelined him at any time, and try to guide it down a narrow lane at night at 340mph at age 75. He's expressed concern in the past for doing just that, sitting behind 11,000hp, looking through a slit of a windshield from inside a car filled with clutch dust. Going forward he'd be required to do that after suffering a 50G+ head slam that resulted in some degree of brain damage. You don't see as well at that age under the best of conditions; I don't care how tough you are. Time marches on and unfortunately it marches right across all of us.

He's a survivor's survivor but he's never taken a shot like this. John's a pragmatic man who wants to dance at his grandkids' wedding. Racing is his life but family is family. Regardless if whether or not the doctors and NHRA clear him to drive, I honestly don't believe he will. And in my opinion that will be one of the best decisions he'll ever make.

 

[Slowpoke96z28]

I don't think he'd hop back to driving until he personally thought he could do it in a healthy and safe manner, to the point à good handfull of specialists told him he was good to go. Im just wondering what medical journals will say about it in 5 years, what they've learned about geriatric nuerology, human/sports performance, and sports psychology. Imagine being a drag racing legend and a medical legend. My biggest fear is if he can accept it if he has to walk away. A top tier personality can really struggle with that, especially if he "feels" fine. Ask anyone medically retired from the military against their desire. When human performance has been your life, and now you feel aa If your body has failed, that's an inexplicable feeling. You want to be mad, but your anger is directed at yourself because yourself is the issue. For some, its worse if they dont remember the trauma because they dont even know what to point at. Having family can help, but if it comes to that, other tenured drivers may have to support him.

 

[65 Goatboy]

Based on his injury he's probably progressing fine.

I've listened to Dale Earnhardt Jr. describe what he went through during his recovery. It can take a long time.

 

[Randy]

I hope he retires from driving. I think enough of John Force to suggest - I repeat, suggest; it's obviously not my call - that he not climb back into a cruise missile, one capable of repeating the same scenario that sidelined him at any time, and try to guide it down a narrow lane at night at 340mph at age 75. He's expressed concern in the past for doing just that, sitting behind 11,000hp, looking through a slit of a windshield from inside a car filled with clutch dust. Going forward he'd be required to do that after suffering a 50G+ head slam that resulted in some degree of brain damage. You don't see as well at that age under the best of conditions; I don't care how tough you are. Time marches on and unfortunately it marches right across all of us.

He's a survivor's survivor but he's never taken a shot like this. John's a pragmatic man who wants to dance at his grandkids' wedding. Racing is his life but family is family. Regardless if whether or not the doctors and NHRA clear him to drive, I honestly don't believe he will. And in my opinion that will be one of the best decisions he'll ever make.

Great post.

If John is unable to drive/make competitive runs but has recovered enough to do something spectacular, I'm wondering if he could be approved for a final retirement full track burnout or something dramatic like that, that would not subject him to the g-forces of a run or tire shake.

Lite it up, put the body down, set the rpm limiter up 800 rpm higher than normal and wave him through to do a gigantic burnout, triping the win light in his lane as he goes through the finish line. He's a showman and a racer. Back him up, wave him up to the starting line, shut it off, lift the body, have him get out, take off his helmet, have Alan right there with the Mic, and give him whatever time he needs to thank his fans and sponsors for one heck of a ride. There wouldn't be a dry eye in the house.

Doing that would allow Force to retire on his own terms, with grace and dignity, in the firesuit of his choice.

Yea, that would leave a mark.

 

[twostep]

Great post.

If John is unable to drive/make competitive runs but has recovered enough to do something spectacular, I'm wondering if he could be approved for a final retirement full track burnout or something dramatic like that, that would not subject him to the g-forces of a run or tire shake.

Lite it up, put the body down, set the rpm limiter up 800 rpm higher than normal and wave him through to do a gigantic burnout, triping the win light in his lane as he goes through the finish line. He's a showman and a racer. Back him up, wave him up to the starting line, shut it off, lift the body, have him get out, take off his helmet, have Alan right there with the Mic, and give him whatever time he needs to thank his fans and sponsors for one heck of a ride. There wouldn't be a dry eye in the house.

Doing that would allow Force to retire on his own terms, with grace and dignity, in the firesuit of his choice.

Yea, that would leave a mark.

I love it.

 

[stoppro]

No point in getting ahead of ourselves,we don't know if he can even talk.I hope he gets right.

 

[Slowpoke96z28]

No point in getting ahead of ourselves,we don't know if he can even talk.I hope he gets right.

He can talk.

 

[Slowpoke96z28]

It can be hard to appreciate what a body experiences in a loaded chassis, even with no external unplanned contact. On another note though, I wonder how many KB Titan cars have seen this tool at the Hendrick shop and what a 4 link tuner could do with this and data from Lanny Miglizzi.

 

[stitcherbob]

I’m waiting patiently for John to come back. When I see the posts of him so far I smile because he’s not like Michael Schumacher, lying in a vegetative state never to be seen by the public ever again. He doesn’t sound like he’s hurt as bad as Bobby Allison after his wreck, where the doctors saved his life and ,after some time in a vegetative state, made an attempt to race again but retired after his 2 sons were killed. And personally, I wouldn’t doubt that ego has a part in staying out of the public eye. I wouldn’t go on tv yet if I had any issues stringing a sentence together or had frustration trying to remember things.

 

[65 Goatboy]

Don't know how many read Competition Plus but he gave a John Force update in their story about his St Louis win. He actually sat and talked with him on Tuesday before St Louis. Thank you Jack, this is the "best" news we've heard in a long time.

“He's John Force. He's his own personality. I always said they broke the mold. They did. There was no mold for John Force,” Beckman said. “I got to see him (Sept. 24), and he looks like John Force, and he talks like John Force, and we got to sit in the shop for a while and visit, and that's the first time I've seen him since the accident and it felt good. I got to hug him. John's not a big hugger. I'm a big hugger. We're going to work on that.

 

[stitcherbob]

John wasn't in a coma as far as we heard.

Me was in coma and me turned out much good

Me will drive funnier car for Jack if Jack has to go home... you betcha

 

[GumbyWVU]

Great post.

If John is unable to drive/make competitive runs but has recovered enough to do something spectacular, I'm wondering if he could be approved for a final retirement full track burnout or something dramatic like that, that would not subject him to the g-forces of a run or tire shake.

Lite it up, put the body down, set the rpm limiter up 800 rpm higher than normal and wave him through to do a gigantic burnout, triping the win light in his lane as he goes through the finish line. He's a showman and a racer. Back him up, wave him up to the starting line, shut it off, lift the body, have him get out, take off his helmet, have Alan right there with the Mic, and give him whatever time he needs to thank his fans and sponsors for one heck of a ride. There wouldn't be a dry eye in the house.

Doing that would allow Force to retire on his own terms, with grace and dignity, in the firesuit of his choice.

Yea, that would leave a mark.

Something like this was mentioned in another thread and I think it's a great idea. Only have Force first do a throttle whack in the pits during tune up and then have Coil be there at the line to stage him. The cherry on top! I bet there wouldn't be a dry eye in the place.

 

[DanTheFan]

Burnout on the Vegas strip. In front of Bellagio.