Actor Jason Priestley's manager has said the injured star will return to racing cars as soon as possible, despite his near-fatal crash at the weekend.

Jim Freudenberg, who manages the Kelley Racing team for which Priestley is a driver, said Priestley was determined to get back behind the wheel.

"He's a fighter, one of the toughest little guys I know," said Mr Freudenberg.

"He doesn't give up easily. If I'm going to keep him out of a race car, it's going to be a fight. That's just the way he is."

Priestley was rushed to hospital in Kentucky

Priestley is in a serious but stable condition in hospital in Indianapolis after crashing his racing car at the Kentucky Speedway on Sunday while practising for an upcoming event.

He suffered a broken back, concussion, a broken nose, fractures in both feet and multiple cuts and bruises.

Priestley, 32, faces weeks of healing and rehabilitation but is expected to recover fully.

'Hardest day'

Mr Freudenberg, who has known Priestley for more than a decade, said a sense of dread washed over him when he could not reach Priestley by radio after the crash.

"I asked him to respond, and he didn't. I asked him again, and still there was no response, and that was tough," Mr Freudenberg said.

Priestley rose to fame in Beverly Hills 90210

"It's a little more than him just being a driver for our race team. He's a very good friend, and that was one of the hardest days of my life."

Priestley was fitted with a back brace on Monday to determine the stability of the fracture in his ninth thoracic vertebra.

Tests showed no immediate signs of paralysis or permanent neurological damage.

Priestley was originally taken to the University of Kentucky Hospital but was later airlifted to the Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

The Indianapolis facility is known for having treated several other Indy Racing League drivers.

Priestley had arranged to be taken there in the event that he was involved in a serious accident.

Star

Former Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk saw the crash happen.

He said Priestley appeared to have driven through some "oil-dry" - an absorbent material that was spread on part of the track 10 minutes earlier to soak up an oil leak from another car.

Drivers had been warned not to go through it.

Priestley became a worldwide star as Brandon Walsh in US teen drama series Beverly Hills 90210 between 1990 and 1998.

He also starred in a critically acclaimed production of the hit Broadway play Side Man on London's West End stage.

His film credits include Love and Death on Long Island, Tombstone and Eye of the Beholder.