N.H. speedway owner injured in car crash

CONCORD, N.H. -- New Hampshire International Speedway owner Bob Bahre was in intensive care yesterday after he was seriously injured in an accident Thursday when his sport utility vehicle went off a road in Maine.

According to track spokesman Ron Meade, Bahre suffered a fractured vertebrae, a broken ankle, a concussion, and rib injuries, and has been in and out of consciousness.

"They just got him out of an MRI and they have him stabilized, but as you can imagine all the swelling, it's pretty serious," Meade said.

A hospital spokesman said Bahre, who is in his late 70s, was listed in stable condition and was in intensive care at Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway, Maine.

Bahre was following another vehicle to his home in Paris, Maine, after a day at the speedway when his vehicle went off Route 160 in Brownfield at 2 p.m. Thursday and hit a tree.

The airbag and seat belt probably saved Bahre from greater injury, said Corporal Tim Ontengco of the Oxford County Sheriff's Department.

Bahre apparently fell asleep coming off a curve, Ontengco said.

"I asked him what happened. He said he was kind of tired and fatigued because he had been at the speedway all day and he was driving back" to his home, the investigator said.

After the crash, the speedometer was stuck at 49 miles per hour, the speed the SUV was traveling, Ontengco said.

Bahre was taken to Bridgton Hospital and then transferred to Stephens.

Bahre, a self-made multimillionaire, brought big-time auto racing to New England at the Loudon speedway, which he operates with his son, Gary.

The 1-mile oval is host to two NASCAR Nextel Cup races each year.