Life-size statue to memorialize Medlen at John Force Racing complex in Indy

The life-size statue that will stand outside the John Force Racing complex in Brownsburg, Ind., recalls what perhaps was Eric Medlen's most emotional racing moment: the celebration of his 2006 victory at the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway, the track closest to his hometown of Oakdale, Calif.

Fabricated by Storyland Studios of Lake Elsinore, Calif., the company that cast the Wally Parks statue at the NHRA Motorsports Museum in Pomona, the statue replicates Medlen's victory celebration with the POWERade winner's trophy thrust high over his head. It will be a permanent memorial to a driver who in just three full seasons had a tremendous impact on the sport.

“Our purpose is to show everyone that all of us at John Force Racing will never forget Eric Medlen and the impact he made on all of us,” Force said of the driver who last March succumbed to injuries suffered in a testing accident in Gainesville, Fla. “Eric was a beloved member of the drag racing family, just like Dale Earnhardt was to NASCAR.”

The life-size statue and a special room dedicated to Medlen's memory will be unveiled Thursday during ceremonies introducing The Eric Medlen Project.

Housed in a 48,000-square-foot building adjacent to the existing JFR shop facility in Brownsburg, The Eric Medlen Project ultimately will house a chassis shop, paint shop, and engine shop providing proprietary parts for JFR's Ford Mustang Funny Cars and A/Fuel Dragsters.

“One day we plan to evolve to doing everything in-house like they do in NASCAR because that's the best way to maintain quality control,” Force said.

In addition, The Eric Medlen Project also will include the high-tech data-acquisition and testing equipment needed to support the JFR safety initiative headed by Eric's father, John Medlen. The elder Medlen and his wife, Martha, are relocating from Russellville, Ark., to Indianapolis, Eric's home at the time of his accident.

The thrust of The Eric Medlen Project will be the creation of the Funny Car of the Future (FCF), a concept vehicle that Force insists must be both “affordable and competitive.”

“John Medlen already has talked to engineers about what can and can't be done,” Force said. “We've talked to people inside the sport, like Murf McKinney, and people in IndyCar and NASCAR and Formula One.”

John Medlen, who is working closely with NHRA, SFI, Ford Motor Co., and others on the safety initiatives, calls the spirit of cooperation he has seen thus far unprecedented.

“We've been given data that it would have taken years for us to develop on our own,” Medlen said. “It's been a very humbling experience that shows the depth of the impact of Eric's accident.”

“It's a joint effort,” Force said, “and whatever [safety] data is developed and whatever the conclusions are, we'll share them with the entire racing community. It's not just for my own children [daughters Ashley, 24, Brittany, 20, and Courtney, 18, are racers], it's for all the mothers and fathers and their children who are out here. To make the sport better for them, better for the future, that's why I'm investing my money and why the sponsors are investing their money.”

John Force Racing East is located at 498 Southpoint Circle, facing Northfield Drive.