NHRA drag racer and 16-time Funny Car champion John Force has been released from the hospital after a moderately heinous crash Sunday evening at the Arizona Nationals. The 68-year-old strip veteran was going head to head with Jonnie Lindberg when his engine exploded just feet from the finish line.

Fortunately, John won the race but the explosion blew apart the car’s bodywork and sent him into Lindberg’s lane. The vehicles collided as Force’s Chevy-powered dragster slammed into the far wall. Lindberg’s car, slowed by the initial impact and now entangled in the other vehicle’s parachute chord, was hit from behind a second time before both vehicles skidded to a stop against the opposite wall. The much older Force was transported to Chandler Regional Hospital as a precaution, while Lindberg was given a clean bill of health onsite.  (Read More…)