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Former heart-throb becomes co-owner of auto racing team

Actor Jason Priestly poses on arrival at an award gala in Beverly Hills, California, on Nov. 9, 2006. PHOTO: AP

Actor Jason Priestley can't stay away from auto racing.

The former romantic interest on the show Beverly Hills 90210, who was seriously injured in a racing accident in 2002, is co-owner of a new race team that plans to enter a car in the Indianapolis 500 in May.

"Dude, this is going to be so fun," Priestley said on Monday.

The new Rubicon Race Team will be managed by co-owner Jim Freudenberg, the former general manager of Kelley Racing and a friend of Priestley, and the No. 28 entry will be built by the Indianapolis-based Sam Schmidt Motorsports.

The team plans to hire a veteran driver within the next few weeks. The Indinapolis 500 on May 25 is the only race in Rubicon's plans for this year.

"I'm excited to be able to spend the month of May in Indy with my good friends and be a part of the greatest open wheel race," Priestley said by telephone from Canada, through team spokeswoman Jana Watt. "It's been more than five years since my accident, and it's going to be so good to get to see everyone."

Priestley, a native of Canada, became a TV star with Luke Perry, Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth in the 1990s drama Beverly Hills 90210. He began racing sports cars in 1991 in the California Rally Series and won his first race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 1998. In 2001, he was a television analyst for the IRL series and joined Kelley Racing the next season in the IRL's developmental Indy Pro Series.

He was considered a talented driver and was serious about pursuing a racing career until his crash during practice at Kentucky Speedway in August 2002, when he slammed into the wall at 290kph and broke his back and feet. He also suffered a concussion, a bruise around his left eye and cuts on his nose, left cheek and neck.
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