John Force has no trouble pinpointing his life-changing experience, even if he can't remember it.
"God woke me up at 1,000-feet in Dallas, Texas, and he crushed me with a hammer,'' the drag racing legend explains of a horrific 2007 accident at the Texas Motorplex.
"Nearly getting killed was the best thing that ever happened to me.''
As with most things in Force's technicolor life, the accident was spectacularly frightening and especially cruel coming in a season where his young protege and teammate Eric Medlen had already been killed and his daughter, Ashley Force-Hood survived a terrifying accident.
Force was airlifted from Dallas that October afternoon with serious injuries and here he is less than three years later -- at age 60 -- leading the National Hot Rod Association's Funny Car championship -- its most competitive division -- as the
NHRA holds its version of the "Daytona 500" this weekend, the
U.S. Nationals.
It is the first of six races in the NHRA's "Countdown to 1" playoffs to crown the season champ. It would be an unprecedented 15th series title for Force completing one of the most remarkable comeback stories in auto racing and providing the exclamation point on a racing resume that will never be equaled.
But as feel-great as this feel-good story is, it's not history Force seeks. It's redemption.
"What hurt the most after that accident, was having people you raced, look at you and feel sorry for you,'' Force said.
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