MEDLEN SUCCUMBS TO INJURIES
Fri, 2007-03-23 17:08
Eric Medlen, 33, who had emerged as one of the most popular young drivers in the
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, succumbed Friday afternoon to injuries
suffered when his race car crashed into a guardwall during a Monday test session
at Gainesville Raceway.
The talented Funny Car driver never regained consciousness. After being
treated at the track, he was transported by ShandsCair helicopter to Shands at
the University of Florida medical center where medical staff treated him for
four days for a severe closed head injury.
“Eric suffered from severe traumatic brain injury with diffuse axonal
injury, or DAI,” said Dr. Joseph Layon, Professor of Anesthesiology, Surgery and
Medicine and the Chief of Critical Care Medicine at UF. “Survival rates
associated with DAI are low.
“On Tuesday, UF and Shands neurosurgery team performed a cranjectomy and
removed the front portion of the skull to relieve pressure and attempt to
improve blood flow to the brain,” Dr. Layon explained. “Despite receiving the
most aggressive treatment, Eric continued to have uncontrollable intracranial
pressure. His body lost the ability to manage it’s salt and water levels and he
began displaying the complicating factors associated with DAI.
“That is when Eric’s family elected to honor Eric’s wishes and remove him
from the artificial life support systems. Our hearts go out to Eric’s loved
ones.”
“On behalf of the family, I want to thank the medical staff at Shands not
just for giving Eric the very best care he could have received, but for the
compassion it showed for Eric and all those close to him” said his father, John
Medlen. “I also want to thank the thousands of people who offered their prayers
and support to us during this very difficult time.”
As recently as Thursday night, more than 100 drivers and crew members
representing every Indianapolis-based race team attended a prayer vigil
organized by Kelly Bustos, team manager for Tuttle Motorsports, which fields Top
Fuel dragsters for 2006 Rookie-of-the-Year J.R. Todd, one of Medlen’s closest
friends in the sport.
At Louisville, Ky., where BP/Castrol had set up booth space for the
Mid-America Trucking Show, fans and well-wishers filled up two giant posters
with get well wishes Thursday. Moreover, more than 4,500 individual messages of
support were left at a special e-mail address on the first day it was activated.
“Eric Medlen was the son I never had,” said team owner John Force. “He
was the leader of my next generation of drivers. Robert Hight, my daughter
Ashley and I were with the family throughout this very difficult time. This
loss is a huge blow not only to the Medlen family, but to drag racing and to
John Force Racing. I just want to thank everybody for their support, from Larry
Smiley with Racers for Christ to the hospital staff to the whole drag racing
community. Our prayers go out to the family.”
Little more than three years ago, Medlen took over driving
responsibilities in the Funny Car in which Tony Pedregon won the 2003
championship. He had distinguished himself as one of the brightest young stars
on the circuit, winning six times in his first three seasons and never finishing
outside the Top 5 in driver points.
A graduate of Oakdale (Calif.) High School, where he was a high school
rodeo champion in calf roping, Medlen trained under the watchful eye of two-time
PRCA World Champion Jerold Camarillo and had contemplated a career in pro rodeo
before his father called in 1996 to offer him a mechanic’s job at John Force
Racing, Inc.
After spending one season on the team on which his father was crew chief,
he moved over one pit stall in 1997 to work on the car driven by 14-time NHRA
champion John Force. Serving first as the supercharger technician and later as
a clutch specialist, he was a member of a team the crewed Force to 50 tour
victories and six championships in seven seasons.
When Tony Pedregon left after the 2003 season to form his own team, Medlen
was Force’s surprise pick to fill the seat, a move that re-united him with his
father on the No. 2 team at JFR.
He was the sport’s top Funny Car rookie in 2004, winning at Brainerd,
Minn. He won three races in 2005 and two in 2006 including the race contested
closest to his hometown – the FRAM/Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway in
Sonoma, Calif.
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