Drag racing legend John Force, injured in 300-mph crash, returns home to Southern California

John Force, the 75-year-old drag racing legend who was born in Bell Gardens and lives in Yorba Linda, is in rehab two weeks after he suffered a traumatic brain injury in a 300-mph crash.

Southern California drag racer John Force moved to outpatient care weeks after a frightening 300-mph crash that left the 16-time NHRA champ hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury, his family said this week.

The 75-year-old Force, who was born in Bell Gardens and lives in Yorba Linda, was back home Monday after 15 days in a Virginia hospital and a stint at a rehabilitation center in Arizona, his family said.

“He finally gets to sleep in his own bed,” daughter Ashley Force Hood said in a statement released by John Force Racing on Tuesday. In an Instagram post, daughter Brittany Force included a photo of her dad smiling and giving a thumbs up from his hospital bed.

Force was discharged from the Barrow Neurological Institute, where he had been rehabbing since early July, according to the statement. He will receive outpatient treatment and speech, occupational and physical therapy for lingering short-term memory and cognitive issues while recovering at home, the statement continued.

“Peace out Phoenix! After 30 days my dad is finally heading home where we will continue outpatient therapy,” Brittany Force posted on Instagram. “These next steps to recovery will definitely be a family effort!”

Force suffered a traumatic brain injury, fractured his sternum and injured his right wrist June 23 in the crash on his first-round run in Funny Car eliminations at the Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park. After his engine exploded at the finish line, the car crossed the strip’s centerline and slammed into the driver’s side left concrete guard wall. The car then careened back across the track and hit the other wall.

Force, who attended Cerritos College, was alert and talking to safety workers immediately after the fiery crash. He was examined by an NHRA medical team before he was airlifted from the track.

Force, who won a record 157th NHRA race this year in New Hampshire, was seriously injured in 2007 at age 58 in another crash in Ennis, Texas. His storied NHRA Funny Car career began in 1978. In 1990 Force won his first NHRA title, one of 10 from 1990 to 2000. Force claimed 10 Funny Car titles in a row from 1993 to 2002.

Daughter Brittany, 37, is a two-time NHRA Drag Racing Series Top Fuel dragster champion. Daughters Courtney Fallon Force-Rahal and Ashley Corinne Force Hood also competed in the NHRA Funny Car series.