Whenever we lose a driver in our sport it impacts everyone. It affects everyone in some way even if you don’t know that individual personally. The loss of Eric Medlen hit home and made myself and team take a close look at how we race. Eric and I weren’t best friends, but we where friends. I consider everyone I race with a friend in some way. I will always remember Eric with a smile on his face. He was wide open and always in a good mood. I didn’t get to talk with him much in Gainesville, but we chatted last in Phoenix. I was walking the dogs down to the trailer and Eric was putting decals on one of the Force cars. I stopped and we talked about doing decals and how it seems that job never ends. He wanted to know all about the dogs and how they liked the races. We both got aggravated doing the decals all the time, but I know we really don’t. It is something that we deep down really enjoy because we were at the track and that is one thing both of us loved.

Although it is sad when we lose someone, I’m really at peace with his unfortunate passing. He left us doing what he really enjoyed. I’ve said many times this week when it is my time I hope I am as lucky. I feel for the people who lose their life in the horrible ways: murder, sickness, or something else. My heart really goes out to the people who where close to him that he left, especially John Medlen. John, like my dad, got him involved in drag racing. I’m so happy that they got to share success together while racing. There is nothing better than being able to race and win with your family. Who else would you rather share your success with than the loved ones you are close to? I know John will cherish those moments forever.

I’ll catch you up a little on what has been going on in our life this past week. After testing for two days in Valdosta, Ga., we headed back home. The week sure goes by fast when you don’t get home until Thursday. On our way home Kelly Bustos called and told us of the prayer Vidal they where having for Eric Thursday night. We got home in time to attend and it was amazing how many people where there. With a lot of the teams based in Indy now there were more than 100 people from all the teams that came to pray for him. We all compete against one and other on the weekends, but when someone has a tough time we are all there for them.

I was on the couch watching NASCAR qualifying when Mike Green called me about Eric’s passing. It was hard to believe and really put the rest of the day in a funk. It was especially tough for our neighborhood Friday because it was the birthday of our neighbors Freddie and Tina Bear’s son Bryce Bear. Bryce would have been six this year, but he was killed last summer. They had a birthday party for him so we went over to their house for a party in his honor. It was a somber night but it was good to be there for friends.

Melanie and I spent time working in the yard last weekend. The weather was really nice in Indy and it was time to fertilize the yard and prune the shrubs. On Saturday night me and the guys went downtown to watch the supercross race. At least Bubba Stewart made it interesting by starting the race in 20th place, but as usual he worked his way to the front for the win. He can definitely ride a motorcycle.

I had some interviews set up for early Thursday in Houston, but I cancelled them so we could attend the Medlen services before we left for the race. I worked at the shop on Monday and Tuesday with the guys. Mike has made a list of things we need to look at on the car to make it safer. We kind of take for granted how safe our cars are sometimes because I believe our series is one of the safest motorsports. When we do have an incident we have to learn from it and try to make it not happen again. We’ve already done some things to the car before this weekend’s race. You can never be to proactive, but you also have to be smart and not do something that could be a negative. Mike is really safety conscious and I really trust him with my safety. I think we will see many things to come as far as making our cars as safe as possible and I know that will make my parents feel better.

We went to the viewing on Tuesday evening. It was very sad, but great to see how close-knit our sport is. There were a lot of people there to come pay their respects to the family. It was hard to believe, but John Medlen was the strongest person there. You know he is hurting so bad and yet it seemed he was the one comforting everyone else.

We loaded our stuff in the motorhome early Wednesday morning and then headed to Eric’s funeral. It was really nice (if a funeral can be nice). Larry Smiley from Racers for Christ did a nice job of making a bad ordeal better. He and his wife Linda have had a rough week comforting the Medlen and Force family since Eric’s accident. I think their work is much underrated and we are fortunate to have people like them involved with drag racing.

Right after the funeral we went to the shop and hit the road for Houston in the motorhome. Trust me when I tell you that I worry more about driving to the races than I do driving the race car. It is tough for everyone to carry on with heavy hearts, but I know that is what Eric would want. I know certainly that is what I would want everyone to do. We are racers and this is the life we have chosen. Nobody makes us drive, we do it because it is what we love to do and I cherish every pass that I get to make. See you in Houston and we’ll have a great race weekend in Eric’s honor.