Brett Loveridge, 23, of the Meeanee Maulers stockcar team, was airlifted to hospital in Hastings by the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter. The ute he was in, towing a stockcar, collided with a logging truck near Te Pohue on State Highway 5 about 10am yesterday.
Mr Loveridge was one of five injured people ambulance crews tended to. One of the injured was another motorist who gashed an arm while helping at the scene.
The stockcar team was travelling in convoy to Rotorua, and the crash blocked the Napier-Taupo Rd in both directions.
St John acting district operations manager Brendon Hutchinson said two men, one later identified as Mr Loveridge, were airlifted to Hawke's Bay Hospital in a critical condition.
Mr Hutchinson said both had serious lower body and arm injuries.
Two other ute passengers were taken to hospital by ambulance.
The driver of the logging truck was shaken, but unharmed.
Mr Loveridge was last night in a serious condition and in intensive care. A 29-year-old man was in a critical condition in intensive care. The two other men aged 20 and 19 were discharged.
Mr Loveridge is considered Hawke's Bay's top stockcar driver and was one of the country's best last summer.
He only recently recovered from a broken foot, suffered when racing for the Maulers at the Huntly Teams Champs last November.
Last season Mr Loveridge won the East Coast, Hawke's Bay, Gisborne Classic, Huntly Speedfest, Kuru Cup and Peter Barry titles.
Yesterday's crash caused delays for several hours as traffic came to a standstill. The road was reopened at about 3.30pm.
Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Peter Butler was travelling back from a business trip in Taupo when caught behind the carnage.
"We saw the helicopter, the ambulances...once the emergency services had cleared, a policeman told us it could be a four-hour wait and they were treating it as a potential fatal," he said.
The serious crash unit is investigating.
By Sam Hurley of Hawke's Bay Today
