Priestley 'stable but serious' after crash

Jason Priestley is in a serious but stable condition after breaking his back in a racing car crash.

The former Beverly Hills 90210 star was practising for a race in Kentucky.

Indy Racing League medical director Henry Bock said Priestley was breathing on his own.

"We have no indication from any of the scans that he's had that he has any further damage to his head," Bock said. "He has his eyes open, he looks around and will follow commands."

Fellow driver Ed Carpenter said Priestley had become a respected racer.

"He's gotten to know everybody and changed everybody's opinion of him. He's shown he's a good racer. He's been running up front," he said.

He crashed coming out of the second turn in the final practice for his latest Infiniti Pro Series race.

Former Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk, whose son Arie Jr competes with Priestley, said: "He got sideways and he corrected and then shot off the track.

"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."

In April, Priestley also crashed a powerboat during a race in Miami, leaving one crew member with cracked ribs.