NASCAR: Earnhardt Has Back Surgery

NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt has undergone surgery to repair a ruptured disc in his spinal column. The seven-time NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion had the operationo on Friday, after suffering from back pain for most of the season. ‘This injury actually happened back in March,’ said Dr Charles Branch, a neurosurgeon at Wake Forest University Medical Centre, where Earnhardt is being treated. ‘I saw Dale in June of this year and diagnosed the problem at that time. ‘We did a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan yesterday and it showed that the ruptured disc had not resolved and that Dale still had a pinched nerve. After the procedure was completed, a team spokesman said: ‘The surgery couldn’t have gone any better.