Viva Zanardi

If you're looking for an inspiring tale of a man overcoming adversity in the post-Superman era, look no further than the story of Alex Zanardi. Zanardi is an Italian racer who came to the United States after some backmarker years in Formula 1. He settled in with Chip Ganassi's CART team and quickly became not only a top driver in the series (2-time CART champ) but a fan and advertiser favorite (along with teammate "Jeeemy" Vasser).

But in September 2001, at the CART race in Germany following 9-11 (which ESPN refused to show, thank you), Zanardi suffered a horrific accident. Leaving the pits on cold tires, Zanardi spun out onto the high-speed oval and wound up facing the wrong direction, nose of the car pointing towards oncoming traffic. Another driver, with no time to react and no place to go, hit Zanardi pretty much head on. The impact sheared off the front of Zanardi's car, along with his legs. But for the quick response of the CART safety team, Zanardi would have bled to death.

But there's a happy ending: Zanardi made a full recovery and has returned to racing, driving a specially modified BWM 320 in the European Touring Car Championship. You can read a bit about his recovery, in his own words, in this CNN.com article.