CHANDLER, Ariz. — In an accident eerily reminiscent of his 2007 crash in Dallas, John Force won his second-round race at the NHRA Arizona Nationals Sunday before an engine explosion sent his Funny Car careening into Jonnie Lindberg.
The two cars, linked together by tangled parachutes, hit one wall, then the other before coming to a stop in a cloud of smoke. As a precaution, the 68-year-old veteran was transported for further evaluation and released Sunday evening from Chandler (Ariz.) Regional Hospital.
Lindberg exited his mangled dragster under his own power.
“I got up and walked away,” Lindberg said. “I felt good and the doctors came to my trailer to check me out and told me that I’m good.”
The crash happened two weeks after one of Force's daughters, reigning Top Fuel champion Brittany Force, was hospitalized following a hard crash at the season opener in Pomona, California. Brittany Force was back in the car this weekend in Arizona.
John Force, the 148-time tour winner, was able to return to the Arizona track Sunday evening to congratulate youngest daughter Courtney Force, who won the event's Funny Car category in his absence.
In 2007, Force won his second-round race in the NHRA Fall Nationals but, as his car crossed the finish line, it blew a tire, crossed into the opposite lane and collided with the Dodge driven by Kenny Bernstein.
Although the two incidents were similar, Force cited the safety engineered into the cars since his Dallas crash as the main reason he wasn’t more seriously injured this time around. At Dallas, the 16-time Funny Car champion was airlifted out of the Texas Motorplex, underwent six hours of reconstructive surgery and several months of rehab before returning to competition.
He won two of his record 16 NHRA titles after that accident.
“This was a great day for John Force Racing,” Force said. “Brittany came back from a crash at Pomona and won first round and Courtney won Funny Car for Advance Auto Parts. My struggles continue, but I’m a big boy, I’ll fix it."
