Jumping The Rope

National Dragster, Sep 16, 2005

Eric Medlen has established himself as one of drag racing's newest stars, and the Castrol Syntec driver for John Force Racing recalled the hard decision he had to make about leaving a pro rodeo career and his roping partner, two-time PRCA world champion Jerold Camarillo, to not only become a crewmember but to do it with his father John as crew chief.

Recalled Medlen, a former high school rodeo champion, "I told Jerold, 'I don't really know what to do. I kinda want to stay here and rodeo with you, but I've always wanted to work with my dad, too.' Jerold said, 'Well, you know, 80 percent of world champions in roping are 30 and older, so you can always come back and do this. If [a drag racing career] doesn't work out, you can come back and this will always be here, but if you pass it up, it might not ever come around again, so you've got to take your chance.' That meant a lot because he wanted me to stay, too." Let's hope Camarillo isn't holding his A breath for Medlen to return to the rodeo.