Dan Wheldon crash investigation grows; IndyCar test run canceled

With a public memorial service for Dan Wheldon set for Sunday, the investigation into the death of the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner has picked up pace.

IndyCar has announced that two larger auto-racing organizations will take part in the Wheldon crash  investigation: Formula One governing body FIA and auto-racing sanctioning group Automobile Competition Committee, according to the Associated Press. Meantime, IndyCar officials on Tuesday canceled tests planned for this week of the new 2012 race car at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where the 33-year-old Wheldon died in a stunning 15-car crash Sunday.

Dario Franchitti had been set to to make the test run in Vegas on Wednesday and Thursday.

Franchitti's wife, actress Ashley Judd, said on Twitter: "I appreciate IndyCar canceling my husband's test at Las Vegas track. The new car needs development — but not now, and never again there."

Judd earlier memorialized her husband's good friend:

As we continue to absorb Dan's accident -- we forget, remember, re-experience shock, denial, anger, pain -- I'm reminded of a favorite poem: DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so, For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow, Due not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me. From rest & sleepe, which but thy pictures be, Much pleasure then from thee, much more must flow, And soonest our best men with thee doe goe, Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie. One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally, And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die. J Donne.

Sunday's service is set to begin at 4 p.m. Eastern time at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

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Photo: A memorial to Dan Wheldon is displayed on a Las Vegas Motor Speedway sign. Credit: Robert Laberge / Getty Images

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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-- 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.

Meanwhile, driver Oriol Servia has maintained a surprisingly strong showing, and the Spaniard is fourth in the standings entering the final two races.

Servia is a distant 145 points behind Power but still higher than such well-known IndyCar drivers as Tony Kanaan (fifth), Ryan Briscoe (sixth), Marco Andretti (seventh), Helio Castroneves (10th) and Danica Patrick (12th).

Servia, who drives for Newman-Haas Racing and lives much of the year in Los Angeles, doesn't have a win this season but has earned top-five finishes in three of the last four races.

"We're having a great year" and it shows "we can definitely be strong contenders for next season," Servia said.

--Jim Peltz

Photo: Will Power, right, talks with a crew member during practice Aug. 13 for the Izod IndyCar Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H. Credit: Toby Talbot / Associated Press

Fontana track sets date for IndyCar return in 2012

Auto Club Speedway in Fontana set Saturday Sept. 15, 2012, as the date that IndyCar racing will return to Southern California for a 400-mile night race.

The two-mile speedway had said in July that the Izod IndyCar Series, whose drivers include Dario Franchitti, Marco Andretti and Helio Castroneves, would return to the track next year after a seven-year absence but had not immediately set a date.

Tickets for the 200-lap race go on sale next Monday, and prices range from $30 for general admission to $60 for reserved club seats. Kids 12 and under are free in the general admission area, and camping packages also are available.

Auto Club Speedway also hosts a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock-car race, which next year is scheduled for March 25.

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Photo: Driver Will Power speeds toward winning the Izod IndyCar Series race Sunday on a street course in Baltimore. Credit: Patrick Semansky / Associated Press