John Force crew chief John Medlen admitted to hospital

Longtime John Force Racing crew chief John Medlen was admitted to an Indianapolis hospital for discomfort in his chest late last night. After an examination by doctors, a routine medical procedure was performed, and a stent was inserted into his heart.

This is the second such procedure for the 59-year-old. In 2002, Medlen had a stent inserted as a precaution and, as a result, missed the NHRA national event in Seattle. He returned a week later to resume his responsibilities in Sonoma. A year later, he won the NHRA world championship for JFR with driver Tony Pedregon.

“John Medlen like everyone in my organization is an extremely hard worker. We have been having meetings and working around the clock to start this season off as successfully as possible for all our sponsors," said team owner John Force. “I know Medlen has already been talking with Mike Neff about how to run the Ford Drive One Ford Mustang this weekend. Incidents like this are why John Medlen wanted to bring Mike Neff onboard.

“Neff won the 2005 championship as a crew chief with Gary Scelzi, so obviously he is in a good position to step in to help out. Medlen wanted to have a backup in the crew-chief position on his team like I do with our other teams, and now it is really paying off for us. We’ll have the whole crew-chief brain trust working on that Mustang this weekend [in Phoenix] with input from Medlen in Indy."