Spring Nationals
This weekend was the first race since the death of Eric Medlen. I cried my way through coverage of the race. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to watch. It was going to be tough for everyone, including those watching. Team Force wasn't racing this weekend in respect to the Medlen family and also so they could look at the data from the crash and try to prevent this thing from ever happening again.
John Force has always been in the forefront in terms of safety in this sport. He was the one who invented the roof hatch on the funny cars that are now required. This year, in his daughter Ashley's funny car, he put in a window escape so she can get out in case the car flips. They are now trying to make those required as well. It will once again be John Force who comes up with a solution to help prevent what killed Eric Medlen from happening again.
After going over the data and reports, they have determined that it was not the impact to the wall that injured Medlen. What happened is the tire was punctured and blew. A part of that tire remained attached to the rim. This created an up and down motion and at that speed it created many, many tons of force side to side. This oscillation rattled his head left to right and created the fatal trauma. Many teams are now adding extra padding inside the rollcage and extra padding in the helmet until a solution is created. One crew chief brought to light the issue that if an accident of this magnitude can happen to a John Force Racing car, which have some of the best equipment in the sport, many of the lesser funded teams may be on the verge of disaster and not even know it. It's scary, but that is why these saftey measures are taken.
It was a touching weekend despite the second day of qualifying being rained out. Every car had a sticker on it in memory of Eric. Some of his closest friends even drove with pictures of him in their cars. They interviewed drivers and friends of Eric who shared stories and memories.
One memory from Brandon Bernstein (TF) was very touching, "One year when I was dejected in Indy because we hadn't done well in qualifying, I had left the track and was on my way back to my apartment. The phone rings, and it's Eric trying to cheer me up. I wasn't communicating at the positive level Eric was expecting, so he finally said, 'Hey, what have you got in your freezer at home?' What a weird question, and where did that come from? I said I wasn't sure, and he said, 'Well, have you got any ice cream?' Well, yeah, I thought I had some ice cream, I said, wondering where this conversation was going. Then Eric said, 'You should eat a bowl of ice cream when you get home because nobody can be unhappy when they're eating ice cream.' And I had to laugh -- just the response he was looking for. I think Eric ate ice cream for every meal. He was that happy. And he loved that race car."
During qualifying, they left the lane next to Gary Scelzi (FC) open as that is who Eric would have run against. They played a video right before that run and Scelzi was crying in his cockpit as he pulled up to stage. After the run, he climbed out of the car and when they went to interview him, he broke down in tears. In eliminations, Whit Bazemore (TF) after his run when asked a question in an interview, holding back tears said, "I can't talk right now" and walked away with his head in his hand. Ron Capps (FC) said he hoped it would rain out because he didn't even want to climb into the car. Everyone was shaken this weekend. Everyone felt sad.
Speaking of rain, it was really touching that the weather was so bad. Here's why. In his eulogy, John Force said of Medlen, "He loved the rain, even at the races. That's when we'd get to leave the track and go to the movies together. He'd come up to me and say, 'Let's go to the movies. Dad said we could go.' Never mind what I said, as long as his dad said he could go, he was all right with that." Many people felt the rain this weekend was Eric looking down on us, letting us know he's still with us. It was only fitting.
At the end of qualifying coverage one anouncer asked another what to do to get through something like this. He simply replied, "I think we all just have to go to the movies".
I know I will be going to the movies and eating lots of ice cream this season.
John Force has always been in the forefront in terms of safety in this sport. He was the one who invented the roof hatch on the funny cars that are now required. This year, in his daughter Ashley's funny car, he put in a window escape so she can get out in case the car flips. They are now trying to make those required as well. It will once again be John Force who comes up with a solution to help prevent what killed Eric Medlen from happening again.
After going over the data and reports, they have determined that it was not the impact to the wall that injured Medlen. What happened is the tire was punctured and blew. A part of that tire remained attached to the rim. This created an up and down motion and at that speed it created many, many tons of force side to side. This oscillation rattled his head left to right and created the fatal trauma. Many teams are now adding extra padding inside the rollcage and extra padding in the helmet until a solution is created. One crew chief brought to light the issue that if an accident of this magnitude can happen to a John Force Racing car, which have some of the best equipment in the sport, many of the lesser funded teams may be on the verge of disaster and not even know it. It's scary, but that is why these saftey measures are taken.
It was a touching weekend despite the second day of qualifying being rained out. Every car had a sticker on it in memory of Eric. Some of his closest friends even drove with pictures of him in their cars. They interviewed drivers and friends of Eric who shared stories and memories.
One memory from Brandon Bernstein (TF) was very touching, "One year when I was dejected in Indy because we hadn't done well in qualifying, I had left the track and was on my way back to my apartment. The phone rings, and it's Eric trying to cheer me up. I wasn't communicating at the positive level Eric was expecting, so he finally said, 'Hey, what have you got in your freezer at home?' What a weird question, and where did that come from? I said I wasn't sure, and he said, 'Well, have you got any ice cream?' Well, yeah, I thought I had some ice cream, I said, wondering where this conversation was going. Then Eric said, 'You should eat a bowl of ice cream when you get home because nobody can be unhappy when they're eating ice cream.' And I had to laugh -- just the response he was looking for. I think Eric ate ice cream for every meal. He was that happy. And he loved that race car."
During qualifying, they left the lane next to Gary Scelzi (FC) open as that is who Eric would have run against. They played a video right before that run and Scelzi was crying in his cockpit as he pulled up to stage. After the run, he climbed out of the car and when they went to interview him, he broke down in tears. In eliminations, Whit Bazemore (TF) after his run when asked a question in an interview, holding back tears said, "I can't talk right now" and walked away with his head in his hand. Ron Capps (FC) said he hoped it would rain out because he didn't even want to climb into the car. Everyone was shaken this weekend. Everyone felt sad.
Speaking of rain, it was really touching that the weather was so bad. Here's why. In his eulogy, John Force said of Medlen, "He loved the rain, even at the races. That's when we'd get to leave the track and go to the movies together. He'd come up to me and say, 'Let's go to the movies. Dad said we could go.' Never mind what I said, as long as his dad said he could go, he was all right with that." Many people felt the rain this weekend was Eric looking down on us, letting us know he's still with us. It was only fitting.
At the end of qualifying coverage one anouncer asked another what to do to get through something like this. He simply replied, "I think we all just have to go to the movies".
I know I will be going to the movies and eating lots of ice cream this season.