Force hurt in Dallas, Edwards gets first Dover win.
By: Drew Hierwarter
The 2007 race season for John Force Racing has been a roller coaster one to say the least. It hit rock bottom in the spring with the loss of team driver Eric Medlin in a crash during early season testing. As bad as that was, the team was also struggling on the track. John Force failed to qualify, or was eliminated in the first round at a number of events. There was talk that Force was done, that his fifteenth championship was out of reach. Then the team rebounded with a win at Bristol in July, followed by a couple more victories that put the team solidly into the NHRA’s “Countdown to the Championship”. John Force was back. The team did miss the U.S. Nationals at Indy but the performance was still there and Force was confident in his chances going into the final stretch of the season. Then came the crash.
Force pulled his funny car to the line for the second round of eliminations yesterday in Dallas. His opponent in the other lane was long time friend Kenny Bernstein. The race was a good one and Force’s car ran hard and straight. But just past the finish line, at over 300 mph, something went terribly wrong. One or both rear tires failed, either from debris thrown across the track from Bernstein crossing the center line and hitting the timing lights, or from engine parts from John’s own exploding engine, no one is yet sure. But the car broke in half, and as the rear end and roll cage, containing Force, tumbled to a stop against the concrete wall, the remaining front half of the car swerved across the track. It crossed directly into the path of Bernstein’s car, also still moving at well over 300, ripping the body loose and nearly sending him out of control. It was scary to watch.
The NHRA safety crew is the best in the business and they got to Force immediately and worked very carefully to extract him from what was left of the car. He was then airlifted to a local Dallas hospital. The good news is Force’s injuries were not life threatening. He was alert and talking as they loaded him into the helicopter. He wanted to know if he won the race. (He did) He asked son-in-law Robert Hight, “Where’s my interview”, he still wanted to do his TV responsibilities and get in the plugs for his sponsors. Daughter Ashley Force said he was still his old self. And the prognosis is good. Force has multiple fractures and contusions of his legs. He has a broken wrist and several broken fingers. He was going to be in surgery over night. But he will recover, and he will be back. And after every thing this team has been through this year, that’s very good news indeed.
In NASCAR’s Nextel cup event in Dover,
But even in victory lane, Edwards wasn’t safe from the “bite” of the “Monster Mile” as his car failed post race inspection. NASCAR officials determined that the rear of the car was too low and have taken the car back to their R&D facility in North Carolina for further inspection. It is expected that some points deduction and monetary fine will follow later in the week. Possibly 25 points and $25,000. There’s no real competitive advantage to the car being low at a track like Dover and in fact, this would actually cause a loss in downforce. The team speculated that some of the bumping during the race may have broken something in the back of the car making it sit a little lower than normal. NASCAR’s policy has always been to not take away a win in cases like this so Carl Edwards still gets the victory. This moves him to third in the standings for the “Chase for the Championship”. Just three behind leader Jeff Gordon, and one behind second place Tony Stewart.
And finally this week; we traveled to Coeburn,