John Force crash in Virginia

[dragracerray]

Man! He hit the wall hard. He was conscious and was helped from car and flown by helicopter to the hospital. Prayers for John and family! Hard to believe he is 75 years old. Ray

[HR9121]

Bad hit for sure but I thought the parachutes are supposed to deploy on an explosion and it appears the red flags are still attached to his.

[mjacquesjr]

What are those red?s tags hanging from the parachute?

[Charles Stewart]

Prevents the drag racing parachute from being deployed accidentally at the wrong time.
They are brightly colored with a message like this one: "remove before flight" so the crew won't forget to remove the tag before launch...

[1320racer]

Most would agree, it's time for John to retire from driving, the risk at his age isn't worth the reward.

[FED 387]

big fine and loss of points for NOT REMOVING those red flags on both chutes---he coulda gotten killed chutes did not deploy to slow him down---hate to see any racer crunch his car even JF ---he's got enough money he'll just unload another one from the truck for the next race this ones a "total"--- time to smell the roses might not be so lucky the next time---FED 387

[Carguy49]

I believe that John will come out O.K. health wise.

Looking at the video again, I believe that both chutes had the pins still in place. That being said - If the pins had been pulled and BOTH chutes had deployed the crash would have been potentially MUCH less severe.

[HR9121]

Originally Posted by FED 387

big fine and loss of points for NOT REMOVING those red flags on both chutes---he coulda gotten killed chutes did not deploy to slow him down---hate to see any racer crunch his car even JF ---he's got enough money he'll just unload another one from the truck for the next race this ones a "total"--- time to smell the roses might not be so lucky the next time---FED 387

If those chutes would've deployed most likely it would've straightened him out and he may not have even hit the wall like he did. I'm about like Ed I'm not sure what he's trying to prove but that hit he took probably might make him second guess himself a little. I cringed watching the video I know that hurt.

[jmcarter]

His whole extended family derives their livelihood from JFR and John?s personality is what brings in the sponsorship dollars so imagine he?ll feel pressure to keep it going. Obvious he hasn?t developed an exit strategy like DSR?s. Plus ego can drive a persona like John?s to soldier on until they hit the final wall. Personally I wish he would retire and bounce his grandkids on his knee?.he?d love it.

[GTX JOHN]

I am a bit older than John Force and I understand
how hard it is to quit racing (Granted Stock/SS is not
the same situation) and I Have Tried several times. It
is no secret to everyone who observes me, the struggle
it is for me to continue to race at the track!

The point I am trying to make is this:
I have tried to if not to quit entirely, but to put someone else in
the seat. After 60 plus years of racing it is difficult to change
your entire life (Especially if you are still doing well racing).
At least until you feel you have come to a point that you
are a danger to yourself and your competitors.

John Force is still a totally capable driver at his age.
I doubt that we have seen the end of his racing! Yes
his team made a serious safety mistake but they
unfortunately occur in the heat of the moment. I have made
my share of mistakes at the track (Not the same but last week
I did drag my battery charger from the pits to the staging lanes).

I still have plenty of time to bounce the Grandkids and they
all love to watch PaPa race.