A Palmerton man is home after being badly injured in a crash Saturday at Mahoning Valley Speedway.

Robert Jones, a veteran driver on the local race car circuit, posted an update on his condition on his Facebook page on Sunday.

“So I would like (to) thank everyone that has reached out to check on me,” Jones said in his post. “But it is not good; I have a broken back and will be transported to Cedar Crest within the hour.”

His daughter, Alexis Jones, posted an update on her father’s condition on her Facebook page.

“His scan (Saturday) night showed that he has a break in his spine and was transferred early this (Sunday) morning to LV for further evaluation,” Alexis Jones said in her post. “They admitted him and decided that surgery would be too risky, so they fitted him for a brace.

“He will be in the hospital for a few more days until the brace is complete and from there he will need to do physical therapy.

“He’s in a ton of pain and can’t move more than his head but they’ve been giving him the good stuff to help.”

Todd Baer, operations manager at Mahoning Valley Speedway, explained how the crash occurred.

“The crash is really just a perfect storm, not perfect in a good way; it was a freak thing,” Baer said. “He just hopped the wheel of one of the competitors, it sent him airborne, (and) when he was coming back down, just the way he caught the wall.

“That’s why they call them accidents.”

Baer said that Jones has been a “longtime competitor at Mahoning Valley Speedway.”

He added that he believes Jones has a compression fracture, and that he’ll be in the hospital until Tuesday,

“They’re going to fit him for a back brace,” Baer said. “They thought he would be in that back brace for six to eight weeks.”

Baer said Jones is well-known for his achievements at the speedway.

“He’s been very successful,” Baer said. “Won a few championships, won boatloads of races.”