Funny Car-Eric medlen

[MOPAR FANATIC]

  Read a little article in yesterdays paper about eric medlen the funny car racer for john force racing.it said he crashed in a practice round the other day and was hospitalized.the article said it didn't have news on the seriousness of it and was wondering if anyone had an update on his status yet.i hope it isn't serious and my prayers go out to him.i'm a long time NHRA fan and hate to see this happen even though all the drivers know this is a dangers job.i wish him the fullest recovery and waiting to see him  again.heres to you eric. 

[Oldschool]

Sounds pretty serious...    Praying for a speedy and full recovery....


http://www.nhra.com/content/news/19115.htm

[MOPAR FANATIC]

Sounds pretty serious...    Praying for a speedy and full recovery....


http://www.nhra.com/content/news/19115.htm

  Thanks old's cool,it does sound very serious, again my prayers are with him.

[hotrod98]

For the last couple of days, his well being is all that I 've been able to think of. Eric is one of the finest young men that I've ever known. When you talk to Eric, you get his full attention. He's a great listener. It's easy to see why John gave him the chance to drive one of his cars. We probably won't know anything more for at least two weeks. They've put him into an induced coma to help with healing. They performed a crainiotomy (sp?) on Tuesday.
At this point, no news is good news.
Get well soon Eric.

[MOPAR FANATIC]

Hotrod98,even though i haven't had the pleasure to meet eric in person yet,i have been watching him come up in the ranks of NHRA.he looks like a heck of a driver and i'm sure he is a great driver to meet.i'm looking forward to meeting him this year at the nationals in brainard,mn this year.i have met john force numerous time and spent some time with his crew and him "behind the scenes" as they say.kicked back and B/S with the team a couple years ago.so far all the racers i have met are a great bunch of guys and i have talked to most of them.---dave---

[pink panther]

I hadn't heard about this, wonder what his status is?

[6packCuda]

I didn't know about this either. Does anybody know how he crashed? My thoughts and prayers are definitely going out to him.

[js27]

They think  it was cause by a rear tire blowing out which caused him to hit the right wall head on.
JS27

[6packCuda]

Here's a little info.

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/dragracing/36113/

http://www.fastmachines.com/archives/nhra/004169.php

http://dragracecentral.com/DRCStory.asp?ID=131501#indextop

[hotrod98]

Apparently, the right rear tire exploded at about the 1000-foot mark. Medlen hit the retaining wall and the car then careened to the opposite side of the racetrack.  He had two powerful hits and came to rest in the shutdown area.
A helicopter airlifted him to Shands Hospital in Gainesville.  Medlen lost consciousness in the crash, but he was breathing on his own when they loaded him into the helicopter.  

Current status as of noon 03-22-07 is unchanged.

Let's keep the prayers going.

[MOPAR FANATIC]

Thank you all for the links,news and updates.lets all keep him in our thoughts and prayers....dave...

[Rare_T_A]

 

[Madmax440]

A friend of mine who is with Don Nase's team just left my office and was telling me about it. He said that he doesn't know whether it was the tire blowing or him hitting the wall, but he felt it from where he was standing.

[71challengher]

That's terrible. I've met John and Eric a few times, both wonderful men. I'll keep Eric in my prayers. Thanks for posting. I didn't know about it.