Dan Wheldon crash: Two injured drivers treated and released

This post has been updated. See below for details.

Two other IndyCar drivers involved in the 15-car wreck that killed British driver Dan Wheldon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday were treated for minor injuries, their teams said.

Will Power of Penske Racing, who finished second in the title standings behind champion Dario Franchitti, complained of pain in his upper back after his car went airborne in the crash.

But "there was no evidence of significant injuries so he has been released" from University Medical Center in Las Vegas, Penske Racing said.

Another driver, Pippa Mann of the Rahal Letterman Lanigan team, had surgery Sunday night at the same hospital to treat a severely burned pinkie finger on her right hand. She was being released Monday morning, her team said.

[Updated, 12:20 p.m. Oct. 17: A third driver, J.R. Hildebrand, suffered a “severely bruised sternum” in the accident and was held overnight at University Medical Center but was released Monday, his team, Panther Racing, said.]

The Izod IndyCar Series, meanwhile, announced that it canceled its championship banquet scheduled for Monday night at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas.

The series also said information on a public memorial for Wheldon will be released at a later date.

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Graphic: Comparing tracks at Las Vegas and Indianapolis Motor Speedways

-- Jim Peltz

Photo: Drew Boyd places a checkered flag at a gate of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as part of a memorial for two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon. Credit: Scott Olson / Getty Images

Will Power gets another shot at IndyCar title

For Will Power, it's a chance for redemption.

Last year, the Australian driver had a sizable 59-point lead in the Izod IndyCar Series championship battle with four races left, only to blow the advantage and see Dario Franchitti win his second consecutive IndyCar title and third overall.

At the time, Power was more skilled on curvy road and street courses than on oval tracks, and all four of those final races were on ovals.

Now, Power again has the lead with only two races left, but it's a much narrower 11 points over the second-place Franchitti, who drives for the Target Chip Ganassi Racing team.

But Power, who drives for Team Penske, is confident because he's had another year of navigating oval speedways, which included his first oval win at Texas Motor Speedway in June. Power, 30, has six wins overall this season.

The series' last two races are Sunday at Kentucky Speedway and Oct. 16 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, both 1.5-mile oval tracks.

"I really didn't have the experience" on ovals a year ago, Power said in a telephone interview. This year, "I'm just going to focus on the job and the things I can control," he said.

And if the championship slips away again? "All we can say is that we did everything we could do to win it, that's all we can do," he said.