Eric John Medlen (August 13, 1973 – March 23, 2007)[1] was an American NHRA Fuel Funny Car driver.

After being cut free from the car by the NHRA Safety Safari and receiving emergency treatment at the track, Medlen was transferred by Alachua County Fire Rescue to Shands at the University of Florida where he was treated for four days for what doctors characterized as a severe closed head injury.

Medlen survived a delicate, three-hour craniectomy procedure to relieve pressure and hemorrhaging on March 20, 2007, but succumbed to complications of diffuse axonal injury three days later[4] after being removed from life support in accordance with his own previously stated wishes.

According to auto racing safety expert John Melvin, Medlen was literally shaken to death in the incident.

The benefit helps local racers in the San Francisco Bay area who race at Sonoma toward a scholarship fund.

This has dramatically reduced the kinds of injuries among drivers that Medlen suffered which ultimately resulted in his death.