Monday after the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., my team and I went back to the track for a day of testing as we often due after races. I decided to write a blog first thing in the morning while my team prepared our dragster. I wrote about how we had a decent weekend and I was pleased with the way things went. Then something happened that made none of that seem to matter anymore. Funny Car driver Eric Medlen was in a horrific crash. He was airlifted to the local hospital where he remains in critical condition. The racing community is pretty close and Eric is a friend of ours. I can’t even express to you how saddened we are that this happened. I am still in disbelief and at a loss for words. I know that Eric is tough, he’s strong, he has a big heart, and he can get through this. I think I speak on behalf of our entire KB Racing and Kalitta Motorsports team when I say that we wish Eric, his family, and his team the very best. Our thoughts and prayers are with them all

For what it’s worth, here is what I wrote before the crash.

I think we had a pretty good weekend in Gainesville. The beginning of the season has given us all kinds of interesting challenges so our first-round victory on Sunday was much needed and very rewarding for my KB Racing team. All the guys have remained determined and hard working through everything. I was glad to see them smiling and a little more upbeat than normal on Sunday. They always work fast and efficient and after we won, they seemed to have more energy. If you were watching a video tape of them servicing the car after first round, you would have thought it was on fast forward. I had barely changed out of my firesuit, watched the tape of the run, packed the chutes, and we were ready to warm up the car for second round.

We were on a pretty good run in the round two, but started to spin the tires pretty good at the top end of the race course. I try not to look over at the car in the other lane in order to concentrate on reacting to my race car and keeping it in the groove. I didn’t see our opponent for at least half the race. I felt like we had a good chance of winning. Then, I felt the tires start to spin and the car got a little bit whippy. I kept my foot pressed down on the throttle as if I was going to smash it through the floor, but our opponent, Whit Bazemore, went around us to end our day.

Now the stands have cleared, race car trailers are exiting in droves, but we stayed at the track for yet another day. We will make as many test laps as time will allow. Then the guys will pack everything up and get on the road. They will drive a couple of hours tonight. Then they will spend all day Wednesday driving to get back to Michigan. Everyone will be back at the shop first thing Thursday morning because there are only a couple of days to prepare for the next race in Houston.