Source: NHRA
For John Force, drag racing's most prolific winner, four months of intensive rehabilitation following the most serious crash of his Pro career culminated Monday in an unexpected and spectacular 4.782, 327.51 sprint down a resurfaced quarter-mile at Firebird Int'l Raceway in Phoenix last weekend.
It was the quickest run recorded during a National Time Trials test session extended by Sunday's rain, and it all but ended speculation about Force's ability to rally from injuries that included a compound fracture of the left ankle, broken bones in both hands, broken toes, and ligament and tendon damage.
With many of his peers looking on, the 58-year-old icon fired the engine on a race car on which daughter Ashley's Castrol GTX Ford Mustang body had been mounted and, on his first effort since Sept. 23, successfully executed a burnout and launch before shutting off at half-track.
That done, the 125-time tour winner came back hours later and laid down the 4.782 that moved him to the top of the performance list ahead of veteran Ron Capps, whose 4.786 in the NAPA Dodge had been the previous best.
Walking with a noticeable limp, Force passed the first phase of his comeback test on Saturday when he was able to get in and out of the cockpit and exit through the roof hatch, thereby satisfying NHRA safety concerns.
"We didn't know what we had [with the new car]," Force said. "We thought it would be good, but we didn't know. We still have a lot of work to do, but that [4.78] was a good boost for this team. That'll give 'em motivation. Everybody's worked so hard since the end of the season, and to run down through there like that was something."
"I wouldn't be here without the doctors in Dallas [at Baylor University Medical Center] who put me back together and without Robert Ortmayer, my physical therapist in California, who's kept me motivated," Force said. "He understood why I needed to get back in the car and what I had to do to make it happen."
For John Force, drag racing's most prolific winner, four months of intensive rehabilitation following the most serious crash of his Pro career culminated Monday in an unexpected and spectacular 4.782, 327.51 sprint down a resurfaced quarter-mile at Firebird Int'l Raceway in Phoenix last weekend.
It was the quickest run recorded during a National Time Trials test session extended by Sunday's rain, and it all but ended speculation about Force's ability to rally from injuries that included a compound fracture of the left ankle, broken bones in both hands, broken toes, and ligament and tendon damage.
With many of his peers looking on, the 58-year-old icon fired the engine on a race car on which daughter Ashley's Castrol GTX Ford Mustang body had been mounted and, on his first effort since Sept. 23, successfully executed a burnout and launch before shutting off at half-track.
That done, the 125-time tour winner came back hours later and laid down the 4.782 that moved him to the top of the performance list ahead of veteran Ron Capps, whose 4.786 in the NAPA Dodge had been the previous best.
Walking with a noticeable limp, Force passed the first phase of his comeback test on Saturday when he was able to get in and out of the cockpit and exit through the roof hatch, thereby satisfying NHRA safety concerns.
"We didn't know what we had [with the new car]," Force said. "We thought it would be good, but we didn't know. We still have a lot of work to do, but that [4.78] was a good boost for this team. That'll give 'em motivation. Everybody's worked so hard since the end of the season, and to run down through there like that was something."
"I wouldn't be here without the doctors in Dallas [at Baylor University Medical Center] who put me back together and without Robert Ortmayer, my physical therapist in California, who's kept me motivated," Force said. "He understood why I needed to get back in the car and what I had to do to make it happen."