NASCAR's Roush in condition critical after plane crash

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - Jack Roush, the NASCAR owner who fields four Winston Cup cars, remained hospitalized in critical condition Saturday after the small plane he was piloting crashed in south Alabama. <br> <br> Roush, whose 60th birthday was Friday, was being treated at UAB Hospital. He had been airlifted after crashing in a neighborhood in Troy, about 50 miles from Montgomery. <br> <br> Roush arrived at the hospital at about 10 p.m. Friday, spokeswoman Tracy Bischoff said. She said she could not provide the extent of Roush&#39;s injuries and said he was being evaluated in the emergency department. <br> <br> Roush Racing and NASCAR weere to provide details during a news conference Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway, site of NASCAR races Saturday and Sunday. <br> <br> The plane went down in a residential area at about 6 p.m., a dispatcher for the Alabama state troopers said. A newspaper photographer at the scene said the plane crashed into a pond in a gated community. <br> <br> A resident of the neighborhood, Larry Hicks, pulled Roush from the wreckage, Troy Police spokesman Sgt. Benny Scarbrough told The Birmingham News. <br> <br> Earlier Friday, Roush was at Talladega Superspeedway, about 45 miles from Birmingham, for qualifying for Sunday&#39;s Winston Cup race. All four Roush drivers - Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch - qualified for the race. The four drivers were at the hospital late Friday night. <br> <br> Roush, known as the ``The Cat in the Hat&#39;&#39; for his trademark Panama hat, has been a Winston Cup car owner since 1988, running Fords for Martin that season. Martin has given Roush a pair of second-place finishes in the series points in 1990 and 1994. <br> <br> During his time in NASCAR&#39;s top stock car series, Roush&#39;s team has won 53 races, including three of eight this season. He also fields cars in NASCAR&#39;s Busch and Craftsman Truck series. <br> <br> Roush Racing is based at Concord Regional Airport near Lowe&#39;s Motor Speedway outside Charlotte, N.C. He owns three P-51 Mustangs, and frequently flies one of the World War II fighter planes. <br> <br> Two Winston Cup drivers were killed in air crashes in the early 1990s. <br> <br> Alan Kulwicki, the 1992 series champion, was killed in 1993 in the crash of a private plane on the way to a race in Bristol, Tenn. Davey Allison died when he crashed his helicopter on the Talladega Superspeedway property later that year.