SPRINT CARS Liberty's Jimmy Weller III is hurt critically in crash at Lowe's track

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- An 18-year-old sprint-car driver from Liberty remained in critical condition Thursday after being injured in a dirt-track race at the Lowe's Motor Speedway complex.
Emergency workers needed nearly 30 minutes to remove Jimmy Weller III from his sprint car after it slammed into the wall and flipped violently about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday in the second of four heats during the Mopar Sprint Nationals.
Workers covered the driver's cockpit with a white cloth as they worked to free Weller from his car. He was flown by helicopter to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, where he was in critical condition shortly before 9 a.m. Thursday, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Racing resumed shortly after the accident was cleared.
Raced at Sharon Speedway
Weller raced modified cars at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., and at Sharon Speedway before his 18th birthday. He then moved up to sprint cars, which weigh about 1,200 pounds and have 800-horsepower engines.
Weller won a sprint car feature race July 30 at Lernerville on the same night that his father, Jim Weller Jr., won in the modified division.
"It had always been a goal of mine to win when Dad does, and here we are," the younger Weller said after that victory.
Weller was the third driver to flip his car and the second to be injured in the same turn during activities leading up to a 30-lap feature race on a dirt track in the same complex as the track that NASCAR drivers will race on this weekend.