Crash Leaves ‘90210’ Star in Serious Condition

Jason Priestley, heartthrob of the 1990s TV teen drama “Beverly Hills 90210,” was in serious condition Sunday after his car slammed into two retaining walls during a practice lap at a Kentucky auto race.

The actor’s Indy-style car, traveling at nearly 180 mph, hit an outside wall coming out of the second turn of the final practice lap for the Kentucky 100 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, then spun and hit an inside wall.

Priestley, 32, was airlifted to the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, a trauma center about 82 miles away, suffering from a concussion, a non-paralyzing spinal fracture, fractures to both feet, facial lacerations and a broken nose.

Priestley was sedated, but responding to questions, and was placed on a respirator as a precaution, according to Dr. Henry Bock, medical services director of the Indy Racing League, the sanctioning body for the Infiniti Pro Series in which Priestley raced.

“There is no indication that his spinal cord has been damaged in any way,” Bock said. He added that it was not clear whether Priestley would require surgery to the spinal fracture, which occurred at about chest height, to the T8 vertebra.

“He did suffer some damage to his face,” Bock said. “He broke his nose during the crash. Again, that’s all being evaluated for further treatment at this time.”

Priestley has been a serious race-car driver for 10 years and had managed to shake the image of a Hollywood dilettante, earning the respect of race veterans as a competent driver eager to learn the ropes. His sponsor expressed optimism for his driver’s recovery.

“Jason’s a strong guy, and we have all the confidence when it comes down to who’s going to fight and who’s not,” said Ronald Hunter, chairman and chief executive of Standard Management, the parent company of Priestley’s car sponsor, HomeMed Pharmacy. “Jason’s going to be a fighter. As the days unfold, we’ll be very anxious to make sure he’s OK. He’s a great person, he’s good for the sport, and he’s in all our prayers.”

Annett Wolf, publicist for the actor, who maintains homes in the Hollywood Hills and Manhattan, said the injuries won’t interfere with any entertainment projects. “He was in between projects,” Wolf said.

“There isn’t anything he was supposed to do that this would affect.”

Priestley’s car was last in a train of four cars on the 1.5-mile oval when his right rear tire hit a patch of “oil dry,” an absorbent used to soak up fluids from the blown engine of driver Ryan Hampton, according to Roger Bailey, director of the race series.

Drivers had been cautioned by radio to avoid the patch, Bailey added.

“The car turned immediately right, and he went right into the wall,” Bailey said.

After posting speeds of up to 178 mph in previous laps, Priestley’s car had sufficient energy after the first, nearly head-on impact to rotate, slide across the track and slam head-on into the inside wall.

“It’s one of those very unfortunate things,” Bailey said. “It could have happened to anyone.”

The Dallara chassis, powered by an Infiniti Q45 engine that produces about 450 horsepower, reacted exactly as it should by dissipating the energy and protecting the driver, Bailey said.

“The thing took an incredible impact and [the car] did its job admirably,” Bailey said. “The area around the cockpit was relatively intact.”

Priestley was wearing the Hutchens device, an optional head and neck restraint system in the series.

The race went on as scheduled, and was won by A.J. Foyt IV.

Priestley started racing in the rally and sports-car divisions, and had been doing well in his first foray into the faster Indy-style racing series, considered a developmental step for the next generation of Indy-car drivers.

He had qualified second for Sunday’s race, and was considered a contender in a field that included Foyt, grandson of the four-time Indianapolis 500 winner.

Priestley finished second at the season-opener at Kansas Speedway, sixth at Nashville and 13th at Michigan. Despite missing the race, he is seventh in the series standings, 89 points behind leader Foyt, but only 38 points out of second place.

Despite the handicap of being a TV actor known for making sideburns chic again, Priestley’s driving record gained him entry into the close-knit fraternity of race-car drivers.

“He’s a great guy,” said Ed Carpenter, who finished second to Foyt on Sunday. “He’s gotten to know everybody, changed everybody’s opinion of him. He’s shown he’s a good racer. He qualified second, he’s been running up front [with the leaders]. He’s just a good guy.”

Off-track, Priestley ran into trouble when he was arrested for driving under the influence after wrecking his Porsche in the Hollywood Hills in 1999, for which he paid a $700 fine, served three months in an alcohol treatment program and received three years’ probation.

Priestley’s newly chosen field--the open-wheeled, open-cockpit racers that are kid brothers to Indy cars--was demanding, with speeds around 180 mph and little room for error.

“To say I do this as a hobby is disrespectful to the other drivers, to other teams,” Priestley told The Times in an interview last month. “This is professional racing. We race for money. I’ve got another job I do as well, but for a lot of people, this is how they make their living.”

Priestley joined a growing list of Hollywood celebrities who’ve tried their hand behind the wheel, including Paul Newman, Gene Hackman, Robert Carradine, Tim Allen and the late Steve McQueen.

“This was not Jason Priestley the actor, this was Jason Priestley the race driver, a very competent driver,” Bailey said. “To say he was an actor and shouldn’t be driving is absolute [hogwash].”

As for the risk in what he considered a second job, Priestley told The Times: “When you look at the statistics, I have a better chance of being injured in my rental car getting to the track than I do in the race car.”