With the NHRA’s replacement driver rule maxed out at eight events, there’s a likelihood that John Force’s Funny Car hasn’t come out to this point because John Force Racing is waiting for the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn., which represents the first of eight events before the season ends. 

Until then, the team is expected to bring out the Force car at the 47th annual Cornwell Tools Night Under Fire, August 2-3, in Norwalk, Ohio. Force was to race against Funny Car rivals Ron Capps, Cruz Pedregon, and Dale Creasy Jr. as part of a booked-in show.

Force was injured on June 23 at the NHRA Virginia Nationals when his car exploded an engine, sending him into the retaining wall at enough force that he suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury [TBI], with additional injuries to his sternum and wrist. 

JFR President Robert Hight, who has been silent in the media since the announcement he was stepping away for health reasons, broke his silence in a statement issued by the team on Thursday afternoon. He said the Force Peak Chevrolet will be back in competition before the start of the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship in September.

“After conversations with John’s team and with our partners, especially Brian Bohlander at PEAK and Jim Campbell at Chevrolet, and with John’s input and approval, we have begun taking the steps necessary to get the PEAK Chevy back on the racetrack,” Hight said.

“We hope to tie up all the loose ends and introduce a driver sometime right after Sonoma (NHRA Sonoma Nationals, July 26-28),” Hight said. “There’s a good pool of driving talent out there, but obviously, we need to find the right fit for both the team and our sponsors.”

In the team statement, Hight, with whom Austin Prock has substituted for this season, offered no timetable for his return. 

Force continues to rehab at an Arizona facility specializing in the treatment of the kind of TBI he suffered in the crash.