American motorsport has numerous well-known family names, and two of its most formidable dynasties in recent years have been the Rahals in IndyCar and the Forces in drag racing.
Graham Rahal, the 35-year-old son of 1986 Indy 500 champion Bobby, married Courtney Force, the now-retired but highly successful drag racing daughter of NHRA great John.
John Force, a 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion, had a severe brain injury in a 300mph fiery incident at Virginia Motorsports Park on June 23.
Force, 75, was taken to the hospital after suffering a broken sternum and a right wrist injury. He spent several days in intensive care under severe sedation before being transferred to an acute neuro care unit.
After 15 days in a Virginia hospital, Force was released to fly to a neurological rehabilitation institute. According to his team, he is still dealing with “cognitive and behavioural symptoms” of his injuries, and while he is now speaking with staff and his family, he is “still prone to periods of confusion”.
There is no clear timeframe for his rehabilitation, and he is still in the facility as of this writing.
Graham, a six-time IndyCar race winner, was close to Justin Wilson, a former teammate who died in a Pocono incident due to debris in 2015.
Rahal, who has two daughters with Courtney, spoke openly this week about the impact of Force’s crash on their entire family.
“He’s improving, and that’s all we can ask for,” said Rahal, who admitted to watching the crash live on TV while his wife was napping. “It was early dawn in California. My girls were wearing her out.
“When I noticed that, I quickly approached her and said, ‘Hey, you should definitely get up. “You should probably look and see what’s going on here.”
Force’s crash was horrifying, as his car exploded in flames just after completing a 302mph run before colliding with concrete barriers on either side of the circuit.
The exuberant Force has won 157 Funny Car events in his illustrious racing career, which began in 1978, and he is a 22-time championship car owner.
“Unfortunately, I’ve seen a lot of crashes in NHRA,” Rahal said. “With Courtney’s explosion in 2017, Brittany [Force’s other highly successful racing daughter] had hers, and John has had a lot over the last five years or so, but you can tell when something is different. You can see it. We all witnessed it.
“It’s difficult because at that point, we didn’t know anything. Laurie, my mother-in-law, accompanied me. So we knew nothing.
“There were a lot of questions regarding the condition. It wasn’t until about a day or a day and a half later that we had a better understanding of what it was.
“But this is a race. As much as I hate to be tone deaf to it, which I am not, these things do happen. I can assure you that this is the truth. I’ve never addressed it publicly before, but losing Justin Wilson and Dan [Wheldon] was difficult.
“When we lost Justin Wilson, he was a very close friend of mine, and it took me years to get past the mental side of sitting in a car, especially at Indianapolis or a superspeedway, and not having it flash through – like I said, I’ve never told anyone this, but not having some sort of flash through my mind about Justin and things like that.
“On that particular Sunday with John, it was difficult. But you have to do what you have to do and get out there, and then obviously from there, our emphasis was simply to get the kids to him as soon as possible, get all of his daughters, and get Laurie [Force’s wife] out there and get him the care that he need.”
Graham’s tight IndyCar schedule has complicated family concerns, with a double-header in Iowa this weekend as the middle leg of three races in a row (last weekend’s Mid-Ohio road course, Iowa’s short oval, and Toronto streets).
Combined with his wife’s presence at her father’s bedside, the summer has seen lots of unscripted family juggling.
“We’re all hanging in there,” he explained. “To be honest, there has been a lot of teamwork involved. I’ve had little time to spend with my wife and kids. She’s been away in Richmond. Clearly, I’ve been performing dad duty.
“I got back from Mid-Ohio, and we had about a day and a half before I departed for Iowa. Everyone is hanging in there. Everything they’ve said in their statements is correct, including the fact that there is a long road ahead.
Laurie has been there ever since. Courtney is coming back. Brittany is back out in Richmond. They will have to rotate on and off for a while. So, we’ll see what happens in the future.
“Dr. Vargas, IndyCar’s neurosurgeon, was quite helpful to us. He’s been a great source of inspiration and assistance. We’ve been quite fortunate to have their assistance in getting John to where he needs to be and getting the attention he need.
“He’s certainly thrilled about his possibilities. He is improving, and that is all we can hope for. “There is a long road ahead.”
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