“Fingers crossed”: Fans send prayers as NHRA legend John Force suffers horrifying crash

Shortly after NHRA legend John Force's fiery crash at the Virginia Motorsports Park, the fanbase sent their prayers and well wishes for the driver's fast recovery. The horrific incident occurred during the first round of the Funny Car eliminations.

Force is among the most renowned NHRA drag racers in the motorsports fraternity. The 75-year-old ventured into the sport nearly five decades back in 1978 and since then, he has amassed 157 wins, 16 NHRA championships, and 1 AHRA Funny Car championship. Moreover, he is a 22-time title holder as the owner of his team John Force Racing.

Force was fresh off his 157th NHRA victory in New Hampshire a few weeks back and exercised his dominance during the elimination round in Virginia. However, after crossing the line in 4.100 seconds, John Force's Chevrolet Camaro's engine blew, and the driver rammed into the concrete wall on the left at a blistering speed of over 300 mph.

The heavy impact sent the car to the other end of the straight track before the destroyed Camaro settled in the middle. The officials rushed to the site, pulled Force out of the ablaze car, and transported him by a medical helicopter for further care.

Have a look at the fateful crash that landed Force in the ICU (via Drad Illustrated on YouTube).

The legendary driver eyed to clinch the unprecedented feat of becoming a 17-time NHRA champ, but the engine failure didn't let that come to fruition.

Seeing the gut-wrenching high-speed crash, the fanbase sent their well wishes for the speedy recovery of the 75-year-old.

"Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery," one fan wrote.

"Continued prayers for John Force! He's one of a kind," another fan commented.

"Get well soon Champ!" one fan added.

The Building Homes for Heroes organization that builds homes for the nation's heroes also send their prayers.

"Sending so much love and healing thoughts to @JohnForce_FC! 💙" the non-profit organization wrote.

This fan drew parallels with Iron Man and hailed John Force's sheer strength.

"Iron man is a piker compared to John Force - get well soon John🙏," the fan commented.

One fan outlined that despite being aged 75, Force clocked such high speeds.

"75 and still clocking 300 MPH," they wrote.

"He's one tough cookie"- Tony Stewart wishes for a speedy recovery of John Force

Tony Stewart is a three-time Cup Series champ and has been participating in NHRA's Top Fuel class lately. Stewart was at Virginia Motorsports Park for his drag racing showdown when Force's engine caught fire.

Upon learning about the legendary driver's horrifying crash, Tony Stewart quickly sent his prayers for his "pal" through social media.

"We’re keeping our pal John Force in our thoughts and prayers. He’s one tough cookie," Stewart wrote via TSRnitro on X.

Stewart swept the entire Top Fuel qualifying and reached the third elimination round. During his journey, Stewart upset several drivers like Force's daughter Brittany in Q1, Justin Ashley in Q2, and Antron Brown in Q3.

With that, Stewart moved to the eliminators, and over there, he defeated Clay Millican in E1. In E2, the NASCAR champ locked horns with Brittany Force, once again and emerged triumphant. However, in E3, he couldn't continue his superior run and lost to Doug Kalitta.