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. "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." Cheap Carolina Panthers Jerseys. "That was nice," centre Andray Blatche said with a grin. For the Nets, Mondays game at Madison Square Garden looked good and sounded even better. Joe Johnson scored 25 points and the Nets sent the Knicks to a fourth straight loss with a 103-80 victory, evening this seasons New York rivalry at a game apiece. Cheap NBA Jerseys. - Seattle Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma will not throw for four to six weeks because of an injury to the middle finger of his right hand. http://www.wholesalechinastitchedjerseys.com/. You can catch all of the action live NOW on TSN and TSN GO. The Eastern Conference finals are set with Montreal scheduled to host the New York Rangers in Game 1 on Saturday, but the Chicago Blackhawks are still waiting for an opponent in the West. Cheap NHL Jerseys. In the fourth, the Rockets -- led by James Harden and Jeremy Lin for a second straight game -- were able to finish things off. Dwight Howard had 24 points and 18 rebounds, and Harden scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter in the Rockets 107-98 comeback victory. Cheap Los Angeles Rams Jerseys. -- Kansas City Royals right-hander Luke Hochevar will have Tommy John surgery that will sideline the pitcher for the season.LAS VEGAS -- Its no secret things figure to be bad in Philadelphia this season for a 76ers team doing little but masquerading as an NBA franchise. Leave it to the oddsmakers in this gambling city to show just how bad things could be for a team contending for nothing but the NBAs next top draft pick. As the NBA season tips off, the over-under for total wins for the 76ers this year is 16.5, the lowest of any team and the lowest that LVH sports book oddsmaker Jeff Sherman can remember putting up on any NBA team in the last decade or so. That means optimistic Philly fans -- assuming there are any for a team with only a handful of legitimate NBA players -- can win money if they bet their team can win 17 games or more in the 82-game regular season. Conversely, those who think the 76ers are even worse than they look can cash in if the season win total is 16 or fewer. "Theyve pretty much made it known in Philadelphia theyre trying to get the No. 1 pick for Andrew Wiggins and not holding back," Sherman said. "Teams try for the draft pick sometimes late in the season, but theyre basically doing it the whole season." It gets even better for true believers. They can get astronomical odds of 9,999-1 if they want to wager at the LVH on the 76ers winning the NBA title. "It was the highest number our computers would let us put in," Sherman said. The 76ers arent alone in chasing after Wiggins, wwho has NBA scouts drooling even though hes just beginning his freshman season at Kansas.dddddddddddd Things are pretty dismal in the desert, too, with the Phoenix Suns posted as the next worst NBA team with an over-under total of 19.5 wins. Perhaps most surprising, though, is that oddsmakers have such little respect for the chances of the Los Angeles Lakers and their aging and injury-prone cast of stars. They believe the Lakers will lose more than they win, with an over-under of 34.5 wins for the season. "Weve been writing a lot of over money from the public having a hard time believing the Lakers are going to be that bad," Sherman said. "We have a different view when you look at how severe Kobes injury is and the mileage of (Steve) Nash and (Pau) Gasol." Sherman, who teams with fellow oddsmaker Ed Salmons to put up the first betting lines weeks before the season opens, has defending champion Miami favoured again for most wins, though with an over-under of 60.5 he doesnt believe the Heat will approach last years win total of 66. "That was one of the easier ones and it was close to what we had last year," he said. "They won more than that last year, but that included a 27-game winning streak that we dont expect to be repeated." Miami is also favoured at 2-1 to win another NBA title, followed by Oklahoma City at 9-2, Chicago at 6-1 and San Antonio at 8-1. wholesale jerseys? cheap jerseys?cheap nfl jerseys?wholesale jerseys cheap soccer jerseys wholesale jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '