Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2003 | 9:27 a.m.
Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at [email protected] or (702) 259-4089.
Indy Racing League driver Kenny Brack had a second successful surgery Monday night in Dallas to repair injuries he sustained in a violent crash Sunday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway.
Brack underwent an 8-hour operation at Parkland Memorial Hospital to repair a fracture in the lumbar (lower) region of his back and doctors reported that Brack, 37, had movement in his legs and toes following the surgery.
"We performed an open fixation on the spinal fracture -- L-3 vertebra -- and a spinal fusion of the L-2, L-3 and L-4 vertebrae," said Dr. Kevin Morrill, who performed the surgery. "He was moving his legs and toes. Now we'll monitor his status for the next few days.
"There is no doubt that Kenny's great physical condition helped him in this surgery."
Brack, the 1999 Indy 500 winner and 1998 IRL series champion, also suffered a fractured right thighbone, a fractured sternum and fractures to both ankles in the accident. He remained in serious but stable condition Tuesday and was awake and alert, according to a spokesman for Team Rahal.
Brack also had surgery Sunday night to repair his leg and ankle fractures.
Pook said he was confident that "a few small details" still need to be worked out between CART and LVMS and that the race would be held in the first half of the year.
"By and large, it's everybody's intent to run in Las Vegas," Pook said.
Jaskol, 18, will earn a fully funded ride in a European formula series in 2004, with the ultimate goal of progressing through the Formula One ladder system.
Dominique Claessens of Rolling Hills, Calif., and Colin Fleming of North Hills, Calif., also were picked from a group of six finalists to represent the United States in the 2004 American Red Bull Driver Pool.
The Red Bull Driver Search program was established by former F1 driver Danny Sullivan to discover and support young American drivers. The long-term goal of the program is to have a steady group of four to six American drivers racing in Europe and preparing to break into Formula 1.
Zanardi will drive for the BMW Team Italy-Spain entries in the 2003 FIA European Touring Car Championship season finale this weekend at Monza, Italy.
The BMW 320i that Zanardi will drive has been modified to allow Zanardi to operate the throttle with his left hand and the clutch with his right. Zanardi has enough strength in his prosthetic right leg to brake normally, but the brake pedal has been moved to where the throttle pedal usually is.
Zanardi tested the car last month at Monza and said he was looking forward to this weekend's race.
"After my accident, my biggest dream was to be able to carry my son, Niccolo, on my shoulders," Zanardi said. "I have done that, thanks to the amazing medical team who looked after me. My next dream was to race a car again and Ravaglia Motorsport has now made this dream come true.
"I never thought that when I went to see them to discuss my road car it would end up like this."
Kinser extended his lead over Danny Lasoski, who finished 11th in the main event, to 134 points and can clinch his 18th WoO championship by finishing 13th or better in each of the remaining six races (two preliminaries and four feature races).
The WoO concludes its season with a two-night show Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at the dirt track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
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