John Force injured in Funny Car accident

UPDATE #4 Good news from Baylor University Medical Center where doctors operating on 14-time NHRA Funny Car champ John Force were able to set his broken left ankle and determined that his wrist was not broken but just severely dislocated.

According to team spokesman Elon Werner, doctors inserted three pins into Force's ankle to set it, and also inserted three temporary pins to stabilize his wrist.

Force came through the surgery well. A full update will be issued by the team midday Monday.

09/23/07 Fourteen-time NHRA POWERade Funny Car champion John Force is undergoing surgery at Baylor University Medical Center to repair damage to his knee, ankle, and wrist sustained in a high-speed collision with fellow competitor Kenny Bernstein in the second round of eliminations at the O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex.

Force entered surgery at 9 p.m. Central time for what is expected to be a four-hour surgery, according to team publicist Dave Densmore.

"First of all, I just pray that John's going to be OK," said Bernstein, who wasn't injured in the accident. "I know he's hurt and the main thing I'm praying for is that he gets 100-percent recovery. That's more important than anything right now for me, Sheryl, and our team. I know he was talking to me there and he was asking if he hurt me. That's typical John right there. He'll be OK. He's a strong-willed man. He'll be fine."

Top Fuel winner Larry Dixon spoke about Force.

"I'm glad that (John Force is) alive," Dixon said. "From that point you can fix anything. A lot of credit goes to the Safety Safari, the medical team, and the rules package for the way the cars have to be built so that you can survive an accident like that. I feel safer in my car that goes 330 mph than I do in my rental car going 55 mph on the way to the track. I feel like I could run over a nuclear bomb, and I trust in that. He'll be back racing one day. You can count on that."

09/23/07 Video of Crash

"John has very, very serious injuries to his hands, his legs, and his feet that will require extensive work-up and treatment," said NHRA doctor Dwight Shewchuk, who was first on the scene with the Safety Safari. "Nothing appears life-threatening at this time but he certainly has significant injuries so he's been taking to Baylor Hospital where he'll be further evaluated. "Although he was alert and conscious throughout the whole thing he was demonstrating some signs of a concussion as he was asking the same question over and over. But his vital signs were stable and he's on his way." Daughter Ashley Force, who won her second-round race with Del Worsham, opted not to compete in the semifinals.

09/23/07 Bernstein is not injured. He said, "I did have a little headache right when I stopped, and I want to say that because of John's work in that area, of new head pads, I want to give John and his team credit. It was a pretty violent head movement but if not for those new pads it could have been a lot worse."

John Force is heading to Parkland Hospital in Dallas. He has two severely broken legs, some hand damage to one hand, and a possible concussion. The extent of any internal injuries is unknown pending further evaluation. His wife Laurie is with him.

"I know John was talking to me, he was worrying about whether I was hurt….typical John. I told him I was fine, but I'm not sure how much of it he remembers."

"I kept turning and correcting it, and it kept sticking. I just couldn't get it to come back….we about wadded up together….I saw my car body and John's car body coming apart and going past me….I saw John's car hit the wall really hard," said Bernstein."

09/23/07 John Force and Kenny Bernstein made contact with each other and then the wall during Funny Car eliminations at the Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex today. Bernstein got out of his car, alert and appears to be fine. Force is conscious, awake and alert, talking to the medical crew, but is going to be airlifted to a nearby hospital for observation and evaluation.