HAMILTON sprintcar driver, Dane Court, is set for an extended period out of the car following a nasty incident after which he was “lucky to be alive” during the Australian Sprintcar Championships at Warrnambool on Saturday night.

The 39-year-old had reached the D Main race, when chaos ensued in the mid pack, resulting in a multi-car crash and Court being rushed to Warrnambool Base Hospital, with plans for the driver to return home yesterday afternoon ahead of surgery in Melbourne on Friday.

Court’s wife, Stacey, was at the track and said she initially thought it was an incident Dane would walk away from.

“I was at the track, I watched it all unfold, and from where I was standing, it didn’t look too bad,” she said.

“Dane’s car wasn’t flying through the air like the other one, and so didn’t look like he had bad impact.

“It wasn’t until Corey McCullagh (crew chief) called me and told me they’d just put him on a stretcher and put him in an ambulance.

“When they opened the door, it was pretty horrific seeing Dane the way it was, my first thought was he was gone.

“If he didn’t have the helmet he had on, he would have gone, they said he was lucky to be alive.

“Our two kids were there watching, so had to play it down, and they’re at home with my mum now.”

The forestry worker remained in Warrnambool on Tuesday morning and Stacey said Dane was looking forward to getting home.

“He is still in Warrnambool hospital, he is exhausted and just wants to get home,” she said.

“He suffered some really bad facial fractures, once we can get him eating and drinking, he can come home

“He has a hairline fracture from one temple to another.

“The surgeons are saying it is stable, so it should be a fairly easy surgery to fuse it back together.

“He is on a strict yoghurt diet, so once he has recovered I imagine he wont want to see that ever again.”

Despite the setback, Stacey expects Dane to return to the driver’s seat once he has recovered.

“The car that he was driving, the chassis is buggered, so we have got plenty more spares and Corey is repairing it all, so once Dane is all cleared medically, he will back in there,” she said.

“He did ask how I felt about it, and I said I wouldn’t stop him doing something he loved; I think it has just made him more determined.”