16-Time NHRA Champion John Force Retires

John Force, the 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion and drag racing icon, announced his retirement Thursday after a 46-year career marked by 157 victories, the most in league history. The 76-year-old shared the news in a video posted to social media by John Force Racing from his home base in Yorba Linda, California, 17 months after a severe crash sidelined him.

The announcement came on November 13, 2025, following Force's ongoing recovery from injuries sustained during the NHRA Virginia Nationals on June 23, 2024. An engine explosion in his Funny Car sent the vehicle hurtling across his opponent's lane and into a concrete wall at nearly 300 miles per hour while engulfed in flames. The impact caused a traumatic brain injury, a fractured sternum and other injuries, landing Force in intensive care for a week. He was later treated at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix for a month to address cognitive and behavioral symptoms, including short-term memory loss. Force was discharged earlier this month and now continues with outpatient speech, occupational and physical therapy.

"It's time for me to retire," Force said in the video, speaking deliberately under ongoing medical care....