Eric Medlin, RIP 3/23/2007

I feel sick as I write this, but we just learned that Eric passed away about 1 hour ago. As much fun as racing is, you can never forget the danger. Eric was wearing all the proper safety gear, but sometimes nothing can save you with that kind of power and speed. A young life cut short by a sport he loved. Rest in peace Eric, you'll be missed by so many people.

Thoughts & prayers for Eric Medlin

If you follow NHRA you probably know this already, but Eric was critically injured on Monday in Gainsville Fla. testing following the Gator-Nationals over the weekend. Eric is one of the nicest guys in the sport. I'm not much of a religious person, or praying guy, but I'll be pulling my hardest hoping he recovers from his injuries. Lets all put our thoughts and prayers with Eric and his family.

The reports said he hit the right wall near the end of the track, and in Nitro-Funny Car, that means he was probably up around 300 mph.

Updated condition repot, 3/21/07 from NHRA.com

Injured NHRA Funny Car driver Eric Medlen survived a delicate, three-hour craniotomy procedure to relive pressure and hemorrhaging Tuesday evening but remained in critical condition Wednesday at Shands at the University of Florida medical center.

Over the next two weeks, the 33-year-old will remain in a drug-induced coma designed to promote healing.

“We consider ourselves fortunate that Eric is in one of the top hospitals in the world for this type of injury and is getting absolutely the best treatment possible,” said John Medlen, Eric's father and crew chief.

Update 3/22/07

Castrol has set up an email account so you can leave your thoughts and wishes for Eric which will be printed out and presented to him later. Send Eric your encouragement to this address getwelleric@castrol.com

FORMULA 1 - just 2 days away!

So now, the racing really begins. F1 is the ultimate test of man and machine. Other racing series might seem more competitive, but F1 is the absolute limit of speed in a car, which makes it the number 1 racing series and number 2 watched sport on the whole planet. All the teams have the same rules to follow, some get it right and win, while others, well...

Up to speed, the 2007 season is only 2 days and 22 hours away as I write this. So many changes have taken place since the last race of 2006 that this should be an awesome season, massively shaken up. Shumacher, the king has hung up his crown and taken a step to the sidelines. Alonso the current and 2 times champion switched teams to McLaren. Raikönnen has moved into Shumacher's empty seat at Ferrari. Michellin is gone and Bridgestone, as the sole tire supplier, will do a 2 tire compound per race like they do in the CHAMP Car series; each car has to use both compounds of tire during the race. Tobacco branding is all but gone with the exception of Marlboro Ferrari as the last holdouts to a basically by-gone era.

The 2007 race season has been under way for quite a while now with The DAKAR already nearly 3 months old. But nothing is quite like the first race of the FORMULA 1 season. The sounds of the twenty thousand RPM engines screaming down the track is like nothing else on earth. The sight of cornering and braking forces unlike any car in the world is amazing.

Wether or not there is as much passing as some other series means nothing to me, (I like almost all other racing series) but the sheer performance of the machines, the drivers, the pit crews and the whole team makes F1 the greatest form of racing that exists. And it's always a rush to watch and root for your favorite drivers and teams.

Count the hours and minutes, were just a few days away from FORMULA 1 2007!