Jason Priestley's back broken in car smash

Jason Priestley has broken his back in a 180mph car crash.

The Beverly Hills 90210 actor's vehicle crashed head-on into a wall at the Kentucky Speedway racetrack.

He is on a respirator to keep him sedated, but he is breathing on his own and is alert, Indy Racing League medical director Henry Bock says.

Priestley has 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 says there is no sign of paralysis and that tests on Priestley will continue probably through the night.

His car crashed coming out of the second turn in the final practice for an Infiniti Pro Series race.

Former Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk, who witnessed the crash, said: "He turned right into the wall, and his first impact was basically head-on.

"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 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 says.