Massa suffers life-threatening injuries

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa underwent surgery Saturday on life-threatening skull injuries suffered in a high-speed crash during Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying at Budapest. He was in stable condition in the intensive care unit of a military hospital.

The accident happened when a loose part from another car hit Massa in the helmet, causing him to veer into a tire-lined barrier at about 120 mph. The front of his car was shredded, with both tires gone and the front nose open.

The 28-year-old Brazilian also suffered a concussion but was conscious when airlifted to AEK hospital, his team said.

“At the time he was admitted to [the] hospital his condition was stable and he was breathing and blood circulation was normal,” the Hungarian defense department said in a statement. “During the course of his examination they established that he suffered serious, life-threatening injuries, including loss of consciousness and a fracture of the forehead on the left side and a fracture on the base of the skull.”

Massa underwent surgery about an hour after arriving at the hospital. Doctors subsequently said his condition was “serious, life-threatening but stable” at a news conference, but ruled the Formula One driver was in “stable, satisfactory condition.”

Renault’s Fernando Alonso won the pole position for today’s race after qualifying was delayed for nearly 30 minutes because of Massa’s accident.

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NASCAR

Carl Edwards came from the back of the pack to win the Nationwide Series race at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Clermont, Ind.

Edwards started 42nd out of 43 drivers because he spent the day at the Brickyard 400 qualifying. Kyle Busch finished second and Matt Kenseth third.

At Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Mark Martin won the pole for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, edging Juan Pablo Montoya for the top starting spot in today’s race.

Martin posted a lap at 182.054 mph to earn his fourth pole of the season.

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IndyCar

Will Power will start on the pole for the Rexall Edmonton race. The Australian ran a fast lap of 61.013 seconds in the final session of qualifying on the 14-turn, 1.96-mile City Centre Airport course.

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Irwindale

Mike Johnson of Covina took over the lead from rookie Dallas Colodny on Lap 11 and won the NASCAR Auto Club Late Model 40-lap feature race at Toyota Speedway. Johnson’s victory ended Tim Huddleston’s two-race win streak.