Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti was released from a Houston hospital Thursday, four days after fracturing his spine and breaking his right ankle in an IndyCar Series crash. Alfonso Boone Jersey Retro . "Im overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and Im thankful to have such a great family and such wonderful friends and fans. Thanks to everyone at the hospital and the track who took such good care of me during my stay in Houston," Franchitti said in a statement. Franchitti was headed back to Indianapolis for further evaluation and will eventually have a second surgery on his ankle. He underwent surgery Sunday night to stabilize his ankle following the accident on the last lap of the Grand Prix of Houston. Target Chip Ganassi Racing released a photo of the four-time series champion before he left the hospital. Franchitti was smiling, surrounded by his two dogs, and aided by a walker. His right leg was in a cast and he was wearing a heavy brace around his torso. He will be replaced by Alex Tagliani in the No. 10 Honda in the Oct. 19 season finale at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., where teammate Scott Dixon will be trying to win his third IndyCar championship. "I look forward to watching Scott, Alex and the Target team next weekend on television, and will be pulling for them as they go for another championship," Franchitti said. Dixon joked Thursday that Franchitti had gotten use of his phone again, "so thats a good sign. He seems to be in good spirits," and has mentioned trying to come to Fontana to watch the race. Although hes glad the team picked Tagliani to as a replacement driver, Dixon said hed have liked to have his longtime teammate in the car next week. "I would have liked Dario to be there and to be in fighting spirits and helping me win the championship," Dixon said. "I think Tag was a solid choice. As a team, the drivers and myself, we dont have much control in situations like that. I think they picked the best guy. Im great friends with Tag. We hang out a fair bit, and it makes it an easy transition." Dixon takes a 25-point lead over Helio Castroneves into the finale. He was down 49 points going into last weekends doubleheader at Houston, where he won the first race and finished second on Sunday. Castroneves said Franchitti was slow to respond this week to emails from drivers, but is finally communicating. "He mentioned that he is on a lot of painkillers, so hes not feeling so much," Castroneves said Thursday. "He is joking right now hes not feeling much. But we are very glad -- I mean, it could be more serious than that." Franchitti was injured when his car made contact with Takuma Satos car in Turn 5 and sailed into the fence. It tore a section of fencing out before his car bounced back onto the track. Debris scattered into the grandstand, injuring 13 fans and an IndyCar official. Castroneves said the fence at Reliant Park worked in that it kept Franchittis car inside the course. Dixon praised the new DW-12 car, introduced last season. "What the car went through and how Darios crash sort of played out, you know, he was lucky. The car did exactly what it should have," Dixon said. "Having seen the car after the wreck, its done its job. I think we definitely saw the advantages of some of the safety things that have been added to the cars throughout the years, and IndyCar is as always ever pushing on and trying to make them safer, and they are. "But still reality, man. Its racing, fast cars, and some tricky positions sometimes." Nyle McFarlane Jersey Retro . -- Jacksonville Jaguars rookie receiver Marqise Lee has agreed to terms on a four-year contract worth more than $5 million. Stitched Cheap Jerseys .Y. -- Dallas Stars coach Lindy Ruff had an opportunity to experience an entire range of emotions in his first trip back to Buffalo to face his former team. https://www.cheapjerseyslines.com/stan-olejniczak-jersey-retro/ . Fellow Argentina forward Gonzalo Higuain also had a brace for Napoli. And Samuel Etoo scored for his fourth different team. On a night of standout individual performances Wednesday, Schalke goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand had a game hell want to forget.CALGARY - Sam Edney will wear a helmet that makes him feel unstoppable in his first international luge race since the Winter Olympics.The three-time Olympian will don a helmet designed especially for him by Richard Flamenco when he races at a World Cup event Saturday at his home track in Calgary.Flamenco has spent much of his 19 years in the Alberta Childrens Hospital with an incurable skin disease called Epidermolysis Bullosa. Its a condition that causes painful blistering of fragile skin.Unable to participate in sports, Flamenco discovered and developed his artistic talents during his time receiving treatments in hospital. He presented Edney with a helmet adorned with a ferocious bear and claws raking the sides of the helmet on Friday.The inspiration this helmet is going to be give me on my runs this weekend, I cant explain, Edney said. I put the helmet on and I immediately feel this power that overcomes me and its going to be really cool.I was actually at his house and watching him meticulously paint this helmet stroke by stroke. It filled me with something I cant describe. Its going to be an emotional weekend, but its going to be a very powerful weekend where Im going to feel unstoppable when I have this helmet on.Flamenco knew Edney liked bears and sea otters, so he started his creative process from those concepts.I think I had seven different ideas for this helmet. To really focus and pick one was really hard, Flamenco said.The one that really caught my eye — I was at home doing sketches on paper just to see how it might turn out — the one that really caught my eye was the bear kind of chomping on the top and scratching the sides of the helmet.Edney will wear the helmet in Saturdays race only. It will then be auctioned off on www.helmets4heroes.ca with the proceeds going to the Alberta Childrens Hospital.The foundation is the brainchild of alpine skier Brad Spence, who retired earlier this year after competing for Canada in both the 2010 and 2014 Winter Games.The 30-year-old raced in Sochi, Russia, in February wearing a helmet designed by Gillian OBlenes-Kaufman. Spence met the teenager just over a year ago when she was hospitalized with osteosarcoma, which is bone cancer.When I wore it in Sochi, it was so much more powerful than the Olympic message itself, Spence said. I was able to bring her along the journey with me.OBlenes-Kaufman died Monday in Calgary at the age of 18. Spence will attend her funeral Saturday. He had gifted the helmet back to OBlenes-Kaufman as a weddingg present before her death. Lloyd Harrison Jersey Retro. He began thinking he could turn their experience into something more.Her smile is something Ill never forget, Spence said. I realized this is a unique opportunity for me to give back to the community around me beyond sport.It was an opportunity to connect athletes to the community on such a personal level and create strong bonds between the athlete and the child battling something.For me the focus was on the children and providing them a long-term positive goal to look forward to and hopefully give them a little hope during a tremendously difficult period of their life.Spence is in the middle of an intensive year-long Bachelor of Commerce program at Royal Roads University, but felt he couldnt wait to launch the project.In addition to individual causes like the childrens hospital, hed like to see money raised by Helmets For Heroes to eventually tie into helmet safety and concussion awareness.By the 2018 Olympics, Id love to see an athlete from every helmet-wearing sport have a Canadian representative for Helmets For Heroes, Spence said.Ive love to grow this thing internationally and start looking at other sports and even tying in the military. Theres lots of helmets there. I see some really unique parallels between a project like Helmets Four Heroes and the heroes are the Canadian military.Edney and his Canadian teammates finished agonizingly close to an Olympic medal in the new relay event in Sochi, but settled for fourth. The 30-year-old Calgarian placed 11th in mens singles.A sports hernia kept Edney out of the first two World Cup races this season, so his first will be Saturday at Canada Olympic Park.The helmet was unveiled and Helmets Four Heroes was launched by Flamenco, Edney and Spence at an outdoor news conference beside the gourmet grocery store where Edney works in the summer.Flamenco intends to be at Saturdays race. Hell looked forward to feeling part of an international sports event.When I was young, I always watched baseball games and hockey games and all my friends at school would always go out after school and play soccer in the field or even during recess. I would never be able to play those games, he said. When I was in the hospital . . . the thing I always ended up doing was doodling, drawing, sketching and I always just found that was my happy place when I was in the hospital.When I found out these guys wanted me to design something for a sport, yes definitely, I guess I am part of a sport in a certain way. ' ' '