It’s quite possible that Eric Medlen and Robert E. Petersen had never heard of each other, yet their untimely deaths – both last Friday – will send ripples through the world of motorsports for a long time to come.  Separated by miles – Medlen passed away in Florida, Petersen in Los Angeles – and years --  Petersen, at 80, was 47 years older than Medlen – they were both dedicated to the sport of drag racing.  Each, in his own special way, played an important role in the sport, one largely historical, the other as current as today’s headlines.

In some small sense Petersen’s involvement in the quarter mile sport literally decades ago may have played a role in Medlen’s having been able to compete today.  In 1948 Petersen began peddling a hastily put together, black & white “magazine” out of the back of an old panel wagon for a whopping twenty-five cents.  Eagerly snapped up by participants at car shows and dry lakes speed contests in Southern California, copies of those first issues of Hot Rod Magazine now command top dollar from collectors.  With Hot Rod as its lynchpin, Petersen Publishing Company soon spun off a whole series of automotive-related titles, including the likes of Car Craft, Motor Trend and numerous others.

Drag Racing's Loss Of Two Important Players

It’s quite possible that Eric Medlen and Robert E. Petersen had never heard of each other, yet their untimely deaths – both last Friday – will send ripples through the world of motorsports for a long time to come.  Separated by miles – Medlen passed away in Florida, Petersen in Los Angeles – and years --  Petersen, at 80, was 47 years older than Medlen – they were both dedicated to the sport of drag racing.  Each, in his own special way, played an important role in the sport, one largely historical, the other as current as today’s headlines.

In some small sense Petersen’s involvement in the quarter mile sport literally decades ago may have played a role in Medlen’s having been able to compete today.  In 1948 Petersen began peddling a hastily put together, black & white “magazine” out of the back of an old panel wagon for a whopping twenty-five cents.  Eagerly snapped up by participants at car shows and dry lakes speed contests in Southern California, copies of those first issues of Hot Rod Magazine now command top dollar from collectors.  With Hot Rod as its lynchpin, Petersen Publishing Company soon spun off a whole series of automotive-related titles, including the likes of Car Craft, Motor Trend and numerous others.

One of the earliest editors of Hot Rod was a young charger named Wally Parks.  When Parks found himself torn between his love of publishing and the very real need he perceived of get budding drag racers off the streets and into safer places to race, he and a small handful of others came up with the concept of what would ultimately become the National Hot Rod Association.

Petersen, himself a racer from time to time, was also a supporter of the concept of organized, safer drag racing, and gave Parks a free hand to pursue the formation of what’s become the largest motorsports sanctioning organization in North America.  Petersen not only gave Parks his blessing, he continued to pay his salary while Parks’s dream became a reality.

In later years Petersen backed such efforts as the Hot Rod-backed drag races at Riverside Raceway and then staunchly supported the idea that Car Craft was “Drag Racing’s Complete Magazine,” the line which rode beneath the publication’s flag for many years.  Petersen was also a strong supporter of the All-Star Drag Racing Team program when some in the publication’s management were opposed to its continuation simply because it regularly lost money.  More than once Petersen stepped in to provide his personal approval because he believed in the program’s tradition, just as he believed in the sport of drag racing itself.

It’s doubtful that Eric Medlen even knew Petersen’s name, for by the time this talented young man began turning wrenches on a John Force-owned Funny Car, and then climbed behind the wheel himself, Petersen Publishing had become something quite different from what its founder had envisioned.  Thankfully, with the sale of the company Petersen’s name was no longer directly affiliated, enabling the publishing pioneer to turn his considerable skills to the building of an automotive museum in Los Angeles that would bear his name.  It’s no coincidence that a number of prominent quarter mile machines are on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum.

Petersen would have gotten a kick out of Eric Medlen, had the two ever met.  Medlen’s inquisitive nature, ready smile and outgoing personality would have easily overcome any difference in their ages or financial positions.  In fact, Petersen would have understood and appreciated Medlen’s background and ultimate ascension to the heights of drag racing.  As the ultimate self-made man Petersen could have related to Medlen’s high school rodeo background, his flirtation with a career in that toughest of sports and then his turning to drag racing.

Eric Medlen was decidedly his father’s son – but at the same time (for those of us old enough), he was our kid, too.  Never mind that he was 33 when he passed.  All you had to do was watch him interact with the youngsters that always sought him out to see the kind of young man you hoped your own kids would become.  All you had to witness was the way he dealt with the media to realize that here was an unspoiled, expectant, enthusiastic racer who would blurt out his true feelings rather than spout an endless list of sponsor names.  Ask Eric Medlen a question and you’d get an unvarnished, uncensored answer that encompassed his real feelings, something that’s become a rarity with too many others.

Medlen was destined for championships, championships that will now be won by others.  But, as those points total higher and higher, and that elusive championship nears, drivers able to see beyond the windshield – to see beyond their own souls in a way – will realize that the spirit of Eric Medlen is riding with them. 

Robert E. Petersen and Eric Medlen were alike in more ways than might be readily apparent, but one fact remains immutable – their love of, and respect for, drag racing. – Jon Asher (Petersen Photo from http://www.jalopnik.com /)