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One of Brandon’s best friends and one of the sport’s most beloved competitors, Funny Car driver Eric Medlen, was critically injured in a testing accident March 19, 2007, the day after the race in Gainesville, Fla. On Friday, March 23, the drag racing community mourned when news came that Eric succumbed to his injuries. Brandon, his father Kenny, and myriad of the drag racing fraternity went to Shands Hospital in Gainesville anxiously awaiting word on Eric’s condition immediately following the accident. Brandon kept a hospital vigil until Tuesday night when he returned to the West Coast. Both Bernsteins were in California when word reached them Friday that Eric had lost his battle. “I feel like I’ve lost a part of me,” said Brandon. “Eric and I were always texting on our phones, if we weren’t talking on the phone, or hanging out together. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like at the racetrack without him. “He would make a loop through our pits several times a weekend. I’d see him on the starting line or at the end of the track when I’d make a run. If he was out of competition on race day and I was still in, he’d be down at the top end of the track every run. “Now my phone is silent and there’s a big empty void. My heart goes out to Eric’s family, especially his dad who I know so well, and to John Force and the race team. “Here’s what I’d like the world to know about Eric Medlen. Eric was the kindest, most genuine person you would ever hope to meet. He was always upbeat and he could conjure a smile out of you no matter how down in the dumps you were. “This is the epitome of an Eric story. One year when I was dejected in Indy because we hadn’t done well in qualifying, I had left the track and was on my way back to my apartment. The phone rings and it’s Eric trying to cheer me up. I wasn’t communicating at the positive level Eric was expecting, so he finally said, ‘Hey, what have you got in your freezer at home?’ What a weird question and where did that come from? I said I wasn’t sure, and he said, ‘Well, have you got any ice cream?’ Well, yeah, I thought I had some ice cream, I said, wondering where this conversation was going. Then Eric said, ‘You should eat a bowl of ice cream when you get home because nobody can be unhappy when they’re eating ice cream.’ And I had to laugh – just the response he was looking for. “I think Eric ate ice cream for every meal. He was that happy. And he loved that race car. “I have been angry and sad and empty and at peace and then angry and sad again. “J.R. Todd (Top Fuel driver), Eric and I had an especially close bond,” said Bernstein. “We called ourselves the ‘three brothers.’ J.R. and I will be competing with a photo of the three of us inside the cockpit of our race cars. At least I will feel close to Eric. And in my mind’s eye, I will see him with his big grin at the top end of the race track. “One day the pain and the grief will lessen and I will be able to look back and laugh at some of our antics. I know for sure, my life was truly blessed for having Eric in it.” # # # |