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   Jason Priestly Snaps Spine in Racing Crash

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Topic: Jason Priestly Snaps Spine in Racing Crash (Read 1663 times)

Rhune
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Jason Priestly Snaps Spine in Racing Crash
« on: Aug 11^th, 2002, 5:14pm »

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Posted: Sunday August 11, 2002 11:07 AM
Updated: Sunday August 11, 2002 4:03 PM

SPARTA, Ky. (AP) -- Actor Jason Priestley crashed head-on into a wall at close to 180 mph during practice for a race Sunday and was in serious condition with a head injury and a broken back.

The former Beverly Hills 90210 television star was in serious condition at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington but was stable and responding, Indy Racing League medical director Henry Bock said.

The 32-year-old Priestley crashed coming out of the second turn in the final practice for the Kentucky 100, an Infiniti Pro Series race at Kentucky Speedway.

Priestley sustained a spinal fracture in the middle of his back and a closed head injury, as well as broken bones in both feet, IRL medical director Henry Bock said.

Bock did not elaborate on the extent on the closed head injury.

"He got sideways, and he corrected and then shot off the track," said former Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk, whose son, Arie Jr., also competes in the Infiniti series. Luyendyk witnessed the crash from the roof of the press box.

"He turned right into the wall, and his first impact was basically head-on," Luyendyk said. "What I'm thinking is, that's really the one big hit that he took that might have hurt him."

Luyendyk said Priestley appeared to have driven through some "oil-dry," an absorbent material that had been spread on part of the track about 10 minutes earlier to soak up oil from a leak on a car driven by Ryan Hampton.

All the drivers had been warned not to go through the oil-dry, IRL vice president Fred Nation said.

"He was following me in the practice," driver Ed Carpenter said. "I just happened to look in my mirror as I exited [the turn], too. It looked like Jason stayed on the bottom and went through it.

"Everybody was really scared right after the crash. Nobody knew what was going on. He's shown he's a good racer. It's sad any time one of our competitors gets hurt."

Cory Witherill, who finished third, said the cars basically are designed to disintegrate on impact, to absorb much of the punishment during a crash.

"Unfortunately, it does affect the driver every now and then," Witherill said. "It's too bad it happened to Jason. He's a great guy. He brings a lot of good spirit to the series."

Priestley's best finish in three starts in the IRL developmental series was second at Kansas Speedway. He qualified second on Saturday behind series leader A.J. Foyt IV, who won Sunday's 100-mile race.

After his strong qualifying run Saturday, Priestley said confidence is a key to racing.

"With these cars, so much of it is just being able to keep your foot in it and understand that the car actually will hold the road," Priestley said. "I guess in a lot of ways most oval drivers at some time just put their faith in a higher power that they're actually going to make it around the corner."

Priestley has been racing on and off since 1991. He first competed in the California Rally Series in 1991, and later raced in the SCCA Pro Rally Series in 1992-95. He drove in the IMSA Firehawk Series and Magna Enduro Series in 1995-99, with his first victory coming at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course in 1998. In 1998-99, he also drove in the Sportscar GTS1 Series.

Last year, Priestley completed an alcohol counseling program he was ordered to attend when he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor DUI charge stemming from a December 1999 car crash in the Hollywood Hills. The accident totaled Priestley's Porsche and broke the arm of a friend.

Also last season, he was a broadcast analyst for the entire IRL series, and this year joined the Kelley Racing team for the new Infiniti Pro Series, a developmental circuit with open-wheel cars that are similar but smaller and less powerful than the IRL cars.

Priestley also crashed a powerboat during a race in Miami in April. A crew member cracked several ribs in the accident, but Priestley was not injured. In 1995, he crashed into a ditch during the Michelin SCCA Pro Rally in Olympia, Wash., but recovered to finish the race.

The native of British Columbia qualified Saturday at 179.064 mph on the 1.5-mile track and had a top speed of 178.122 among his eight laps of practice before the crash Sunday morning.

Priestley and fellow heartthrob Luke Perry made Beverly Hills 90210, about a group of young people growing up in Southern California, a hit for the Fox network. Perry phoned the media center Sunday afternoon to get an update on Priestley's condition.

Priestley was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and later produced and directed a number of documentaries, television dramas, cable network specials and music videos.

In addition to his television work, Priestley's film credits include Eye of the Beholder, Calendar Girl and Love and Death on Long Island.

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Rhune
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Update on his condition:
« Reply #1 on: Aug 12^th, 2002, 1:30am »

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From CNN:
Updated: Monday August 12, 2002 12:07 AM

Jason Priestley is taken off the track after a head-on collision. AP

SPARTA, Ky. (AP) -- Actor Jason Priestley's race car crashed head-on into a wall at nearly 180 mph Sunday at the Kentucky Speedway, breaking his back and leaving him in serious condition with a concussion and other injuries.

The former Beverly Hills 90210 television star was on a respirator to keep him sedated, but he was breathing on his own and was alert, Indy Racing League medical director Henry Bock said.

Priestley was flown to the University of Kentucky Medical Center with a spinal fracture in the middle of his back and a closed head injury, as well as a broken nose and broken bones in both feet, Bock said.

"At this time, there's no indication there's any other injury to the head (besides a concussion)," Bock said. "His vital signs are stable. ... He has his eyes open, he looks around and will follow commands."

Bock said there was no sign of paralysis and that tests on Priestley would continue probably through the night. He would not speculate on how long his recovery would take.

Priestley, 32, crashed coming out of the second turn in the final practice for the Kentucky 100, an Infiniti Pro Series race.

"He got sideways,and he corrected and then shot off the track," said former Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk, whose son, Arie Jr., competes with Priestley in the Infiniti Pro Series, an IRL developmental series.

"He turned right into the wall, and his first impact was basically head-on," Luyendyk said. "I saw it from the top of the roof. What I'm thinking is that's really the one big hit that he took that might have hurt him."

Luyendyk said Priestley appeared to have driven through "oil-dry," an absorbent material that had been spread on part of the track about 10 minutes earlier to soak up oil from another car.

All the drivers had been warned to avoid it, IRL vice president Fred Nation said.

Priestley began racing in 1991 in the California Rally Series and won his first race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 1998.

Last season, he was a broadcast analyst for the IRL series, and this year, he joined the Kelley Racing team in the new Infiniti Pro Series, a developmental circuit with open-wheel cars that are similar but smaller and less powerful than the IRL cars.

After a strong qualifying run on Saturday in which he came in second, Priestley had said that confidence was a key to racing.

"With these cars, so much of it is just being able to keep your foot in it and understand that the car actually will hold the road," he said. "I guess in a lot of ways most oval drivers at some time just put their faith in a higher power that they're actually going to make it around the corner."

"He's shown he's a good racer," driver Ed Carpenter said after the crash. "It's sad anytime one of our competitors gets hurt."

Priestley has been in crashes before. In April, he crashed a powerboat during a race in Miami, leaving one crew member with cracked ribs. In 1995, he crashed into a ditch during the Michelin SCCA Pro Rally in Olympia, Wash., but recovered to finish the race.

Last year, he completed an alcohol counseling program he was ordered to attend when he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor DUI charge stemming from a December 1999 car crash in the Hollywood Hills. The accident totaled Priestley's Porsche and broke a friend's arm.

Priestley, a native of British Columbia, became a TV heartthrob starring with Luke Perry, Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth in the Fox network's Beverly Hills 90210, which ran from 1990 to 2000.

He was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and produced and directed a number of documentaries, television dramas, cable network specials and music videos. His film credits include Eye of the Beholder, Calendar Girl and Love and Death on Long Island.

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earlymovie
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Re: Jason Priestly Snaps Spine in Racing Crash
« Reply #2 on: Aug 12^th, 2002, 1:46am »

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Boy this makes me sad, I hope he is gonna be ok.

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Re: Jason Priestly Snaps Spine in Racing Crash
« Reply #3 on: Aug 12^th, 2002, 11:52am »

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The JAM section of canoe.ca is reporting that he will recover from the accident. This fellow must have 9 lives. He has been in previous car accidents and also a boating accident. I am glad that he is not expected to have any permanent injuries from this accident.

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Rhune
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Re: Jason Priestly Snaps Spine in Racing Crash
« Reply #4 on: Aug 12^th, 2002, 11:59am »

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I'm glad to hear he's still expect to recover. In the last update I posted they said he showed no signs of paralysis and no brain damage...he's probably never going to feel the same again and he'll always know when bad weather is coming...but looks like he's gonna make it out ok.

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Irishlass
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Re: Jason Priestly Snaps Spine in Racing Crash
« Reply #5 on: Aug 13^th, 2002, 9:05am »

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Jason Priestley has been moved to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, IN. It was the top story on the local news last night. Long before the accident, he had made his wishes known that if ever he was seriously injured in a racing accident he wanted to be treated at Methodist. Methodist is known for it's treatment of racing injuries. The prognosis for him is very good. The doctor was very optimistic in his interview last night.

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Rhune
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Re: Jason Priestly Snaps Spine in Racing Crash
« Reply #6 on: Aug 13^th, 2002, 9:53am »

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Excellent news! :tup:

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east
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Re: Jason Priestly Snaps Spine in Racing Crash
« Reply #7 on: Aug 13^th, 2002, 3:14pm »

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i know i might get people :furious2: with me for saying this but....why do people participate in sports (whether car racing is a sport is debatable for many) where their chances of being carried on in a body bag is even an option? why? :huh:

this from someone who dated a fellow classmate of jason priestley. why do we tempt fate as we do? :huh:

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BlankWillWin
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Re: Jason Priestly Snaps Spine in Racing Crash
« Reply #8 on: Aug 13^th, 2002, 7:02pm »

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on Aug 13^th, 2002, 3:14pm, eastendgirl wrote:

why do people participate in sports where the chance of being carried on in a body bag is even an option? why?

Well, you're chances of getting killed on the freeway during your commute to work are probably greater than the odds of being killed on a race-track, anyway, but
humans as a species are explorers and always trying to push their limits (adrenelin junkies, too).

Eric.

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Rhune
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Re: Jason Priestly Snaps Spine in Racing Crash
« Reply #9 on: Aug 22^nd, 2002, 8:40am »

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Jason Priestleywas moved out of intensive care and his condition upgraded after doctors performed successful surgery on his nose and eye. The actor has been hospitalized since an August 11 race-car crash. He's expected to make a full recovery.

Just an FYI update! :tup:

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crypto
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Re: Jason Priestly Snaps Spine in Racing Crash
« Reply #10 on: Aug 22^nd, 2002, 12:00pm »

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Wow. I don't recall them saying that his nose and eye needed surgery, only his feet. Interesting news. Have to go scope out the racing scene.

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Irishlass
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Re: Jason Priestly Snaps Spine in Racing Crash
« Reply #11 on: Aug 28^th, 2002, 8:35am »

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Jason Priestly was released from Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis on Saturday. He is reportedly continuing his rehabilitation in Indianapolis at an undisclosed location. Priestly will probably be in the rehabilitation center for three to eight weeks. He is undergoing intensive physical therapy for his foot and back injuries, much of it in the water. A longtime friend says he is likely to get back behind the wheel once he recovers.

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Rhune
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Re: Jason Priestly Snaps Spine in Racing Crash
« Reply #12 on: Aug 28^th, 2002, 8:58am »

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lordy lordy lordy...

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Re: Jason Priestly Snaps Spine in Racing Crash
« Reply #13 on: Aug 28^th, 2002, 10:48am »

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our national post today reports on the front cover that Priestly hopes to return to racing but no more oval tracks. Not sure what that means - drag racing? anyways he will definitely be driving again by the sounds of it but may be off the ovals.

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BlankWillWin
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Re: Jason Priestly Snaps Spine in Racing Crash
« Reply #14 on: Aug 28^th, 2002, 1:07pm »

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Grand Prix/Formula-1 Road Racing, most likely.

E.

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