Let this be a place we can remember and celebrate Eric Medlens life. He was an amazing person both on and off the track, let's keep his family in our thoughts and prayers as well as his extended families John Force Racing and NHRA.
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From NHRA.COMThe relationship that Eric Medlen, driver of the Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang Funny Car, had with his crew chief was like father and son. Because it was father and son. Medlen's father, John, has been a crew chief at John Force Racing since 1996, winning a championship with Tony Pedregon in 2003.In ‘06, son and father teamed to finish in fourth place in the NHRA POWERade standings for the second straight year and the younger Medlen's third top-five showing in as many years behind the wheel. Medlen won twice and was the top qualifier three times last season.He scored three victories in a four-race stretch in ‘05 and finished in fourth place in the standings. The previous year he debuted with a one victory and fifth-place showing in the standings.In the mid-'90s, Medlen was preparing for a professional rodeo in team roping when his father contacted him about a crew position at John Force Racing.
He opted to exchange four-legged horsepower for the four-wheel variety, working the ‘96 season as a crewman on the Pedregon-driven Funny Car that ultimately finished second in the standings behind the companion car driven by Force. The next year the younger Medlen moved to work with Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly on Force's GTX entry.After serving as Force's supercharger specialist for five years, Medlen was the clutch guy on the national record-holding Ford for three seasons.A decade after contemplating a career astride one horse, he began corralling 8,000 horsepower as the driver of the hybrid Ford Mustang that has covered the standard quarter mile in as few as 4.698 seconds.
Medlen was licensed in the Top Alcohol Dragster class and had made test laps in both the Syntec Ford and Force's Mustang before landing the job a little more than three years ago, but most of his previous driving experience came at the wheel of modified go-karts, including 120-mph shifter karts of the type used by Champ Car drivers to keep themselves in shape during the winter off season.At one time, Medlen owned three such shifter-karts, but he sold all of them, along with a self-built chopper motorcycle to buy seat time in a Top Alcohol Funny Car at Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School in Gainesville, Fla.His cowboy background notwithstanding, Medlen always was mechanically inclined. He was an accomplished machinist who spent two and a half years studying mechanical engineering at Terra Technical University in Fremont, Ohio, and two years working for Callies Crankshafts.CAREER HIGHLIGHTS*Earned three 2005 tour victories, equaling the total of series champion Gary Scelzi.*Became the fourth different driver to win an NHRA national event in a John Force Racing Ford Mustang when he prevailed at Brainerd, Minn., in 2004.*Has 53 total victories with John Force Racing - four as driver of the Castrol SYNTEC Ford, one as a crewmember on the SYNTEC Ford (1996) and 48 as a crewmember on John Force's championship-winning Fords (1997-2003).YEAR-BY-YEAR HIGHLIGHTS2006: Was perfect 2-for-2 in final round appearances; Matched career-best finish of fourth place in POWERade standings; Advanced out of the first round at 17 of 23 events
2005: Collected three wins in five final round appearances; Vaulted over teammate Robert Hight with runner-up finish at season-ending race to earn career-best fourth place finish in POWERade Series standings; Earned three No. 1 qualifiers
2004: Earned first career victory (Brainerd); Was the top qualifier at Englishtown and Reading; Finished fifth in the final POWERade point standings in his first season of Funny Car competition; Qualified for all 23 events; With a 29-22 won-loss record in elimination rounds, he was one of seven full-time Funny Car drivers to have a winning percentage over .500; was a finalist for the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award identifying the top rookie in the NHRA POWERade Series and the top rookie in the Funny Car division
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