THE ERIC MEDLEN PROJECT
TO ADDRESS SAFETY ISSUES
Brownsburg Facility Honors Memory of Fallen Funny Car Star
BROWNSBURG, Ind. -- Drag racing champion John Force formally has announced
the creation of The Eric Medlen Project at John Force Racing and revealed some
of the specifics of the Funny Car safety initiative upon which he embarked
soon after Medlen lost his life in a testing accident.
The 14-time NHRA Champion said plans to build the Funny Car of the Future
(FCF) in a 48,000 square foot addition to his existing shop facility "is more
important to me than all my championships."
In creating The Eric Medlen Project (TEMP), Force said his goal was to
secure the legacy of its namesake, enhance race car safety in all forms of motor
racing and sustain the JFR racing dynasty, which has claimed 15 NHRA Funny
Car championships in the last 17 seasons.
"Our purpose is to show everyone that all of us at John Force Racing will
never forget Eric Medlen and the impact he had on us," Force said of the young
driver he has called "the son I never had."
To address safety and performance goals, Force ultimately wants to create
every race car component and perform every step of the preparation process
in-house. That would include everything from building the engines and the
chassis for Funny Cars and dragsters to applying the paint.
"Don't get me wrong," Force said. "I am still working with (chassis
builder) Murf McKinney, but one day we plan to evolve to doing everything
in-house because that's the best way to maintain quality control."
In addition, TEMP will contain the high-tech data acquisition and testing
equipment needed to support the JFR safety initiative. Force again emphasized
that his team, led by Eric's father, John Medlen, will share all the
safety-related data it develops with the NHRA and the PRO (Professional Racecar
Owners).
The elder Medlen, who was crew chief on his son's Ford Mustang, is
relocating from Russellville, Ark., with his wife, Martha. Hired in 1996 to oversee
the build-up of a second JFR Funny Car team, Medlen also will resume his
duties as crew chief on a Ford Mustang driven by rookie Mike Neff.
In addition to the program specifics, Force also announced that through Main
Gate, Inc., the John Force RaceStation store and the
www.johnforceracing.com website, the sale of Eric Medlen
memorabilia already has generated more than $200,000 for division among four
charities specified by the Medlen family including Racers for Christ International,
Inc., and the Drag Racing Association of Women (DRAW).
"Seeing Eric's dad so strong is all that gets me through it," Force said
of the loss of the leader of his Next Generation of drivers. He also credited
Medlen for putting him back on track following the March accident.
"He told me that my job was to lead this team and that I wasn't doing that,
" Force said. "He said Eric would have been disappointed in the way I was
acting. That got my mind right because I knew then that I had to give John
Medlen the tools he needed to make sure that what happened to Eric didn't
happen to someone else. The only way I knew to do that was to keep on racing."
The thrust of TEMP will be the creation of the FCF, a concept vehicle that
Force insists must be both "affordable and competitive.
"John Medlen already has talked to engineers about what can and can't be
done," Force said. "We've talked to people inside the sport, like Murf
McKinney, and people in IndyCar and NASCAR and Formula One."
In the weeks after the accident, Force dictated immediate changes based on
conversations with Dr. John Melvin, a biomechanical research scientist with
extensive crash safety experience. The resulting improvements likely
prevented injury to drivers Robert Hight and Ashley Force during subsequent accidents
at Topeka, Kan., and Seattle, Wash., respectively.
John Medlen, who is working closely with the NHRA, SFI, Ford Motor Company
and others on the safety initiatives, calls the spirit of cooperation he has
seen thus far unprecedented.
"We've been given data that it would have taken years for us to develop on
our own," Medlen said. "It's been a very humbling experience that shows
the depth of the impact of Eric's accident."
"It's a joint effort," Force said, "and whatever (safety) data is
developed and whatever the conclusions are, we'll share them with the entire racing
community. It's
not just for my own children (daughters Ashley, 24, Brittany, 20, and
Courtney, 18, all are racers), it's for all the mothers and fathers and their
children who are out here with us. To make the sport better for them, better for
the future, that's why I'm investing my money and why the sponsors are
investing their money."
While the creation of the FCF will be a priority, The Eric Medlen Project
ultimately will be competition-driven. Using machine tools built by Giddings
and Lewis and Fadal, TEMP this fall will deliver a Ford-branded fuel motor.
Eric Medlen never will be far away from the project that bears his name. A
life size bronze statue of the once aspiring rodeo cowboy now occupies a
prominent position beneath the flagpole outside the JFR complex and a room
inside the shop is dedicated to the six-time tour winner, remembering his life in
photos, displays and testimonials.
The statue, unveiled in ceremonies on Thursday, Aug. 30, was cast by
Storyland Studios in Lake Elsinore, Calif., the same company that created the
statue of NHRA founder Wally Parks that stands in front of the NHRA Motorsports
Museum in Pomona, Calif.
-credit: jfr
