Race teams are families. Sometimes they fight, but that doesn't mean there is any less love. Sometimes, members will go elsewhere, but that doesn't mean the welcome mat won't be out for their return.
Welcome home, John Medlen.
After leaving 17-time NHRA Full Throttle Series Funny Car champions John Force Racing in 2010 after the team was forced to park the car of longtime crew chief-turned-racer Mike Neff, it was announced Tuesday Medlen would return to JFR as the team's director of safety and technology. Ironically, his last victory with the team was the 2009 Auto Club NHRA Finals when Neff won his first race as a driver before getting out of the cockpit to help Force earn a 15th class title the following year as a tuner.
St. Louis-area race fans have seen JFR shine up close and personal. Force and Tony Pedregon, with Medlen as chief tuner, have both earned two Funny Car wins at the former Gateway International Raceway with 2009 class champ Robert Hight winning the most recent race there in 2010. Neff not only acheived his first pro round win in the shadow of the Gateway Arch in 2009, he also made it to his first-ever final in the same event.
The 61-year-old Medlen was the crew chief for Pedregon's title run with JFR in 2003 and was hoping to see his son, Eric, hoist a title trophy as a Funny Car driver for Force after Pedregon left. Unfortunately, a practice incident in Gainesville, Fla., in 2007 killed the rising star. The grieving father, along with the Force, put their energies into ensuring the safest possible race vehicle would run down NHRA drag strips. The Eric Medlen Project is a research and safety initiative founded and funded by John Force and is housed in JFR’s massive midwest shop facility in Brownsburg, Ind.
It is only appropriate that one of Medlen's primary duties in his new tenure at JFR is to head the department bearing his son's name. “I’m thrilled to be back here at John Force Racing," Medlen said in a statement Tuesday. "This is truly a family environment and I have missed it. From the time I walked in the door, everything has been the same. The people, the hospitality; nothing has changed. We’re all looking forward to a great year racing four Funny Cars and going for that championship. I’m excited to be here and have the opportunity to be back in the family.”
For Force, whose team has seen a number of changes since Medlen's departure, including a 15th title, his daughter Ashley Force-Hood stepping away from her duties as a driver to focus on raising her family, the return of Neff as a championship-caliber driver with five wins in 2011, and the emergence of another daughter, Courtney Force, as a member of the Nitro Generation and rookie of the year candidate in 2012, Medlen's return could not be better timed.
“I found out John Medlen became available over the weekend and I offered him a job to come back to work with us on safety," John Force said. "He is a leader in safety. I always wanted John Medlen back because he is like family.
"I am excited to have him back in our brain-trust. He will start immediately and he will get to work with the other crew chiefs building on a lot of the safety ideas we have worked on over the winter. We had a strong test session but we need to keep working on ideas and projects throughout the season. That is what Medlen will do for us."
In addition to working on safety initiatives within JFR, Medlen, who helped design the 500 BOSS Ford nitro engine, will continue to work with Ford Racing. A talented designer and machinist, Medlen not only spearheaded the BOSS 500 engine program but also was instrumental in helping to develop the three-rail chassis to which the team converted its Ford Mustangs in 2008.
“Few people will ever know of the many engineering contributions that John Medlen has made to drag racing,” said JFR senior crew chief Bernie Fedderly. “He was the real ‘mad scientist’ in our group. I don’t think there’s anything he can’t build.”
Medlen got his start in NHRA racing with the legendary Don "The Snake" Prudhomme. He left the sport briefly but returned in 1996 when Force, in the midst of one of the greatest championship eras in the history of sports, offered him to lead an R&D team. After three second-place points finishes in the Funny Car division with Pedregon, the pair finally earned their own title in 2003.
For more information on John Force Racing, visit their official site on the Web, on Facebook, and on Twitter. JFR, along with the rest of the NHRA Full Throttle Series, returns to the St. Louis area after a one-year hiatus to the newly-dubbed Gateway Motorsports Park Sept. 28-30.
Race fans can follow the St. Louis Motorsports Examiner on Facebook and on Twitter and can follow Brandon Mudd on Twitter.
Comments