The 2003 Indianapolis 500 just grew exponentially with CART's announcement that they will adopt a normally aspirated engine formula beginning in 2003, that will reportedly be identical to that used by the rival Indy Racing League.

At the same time, the Indy Racing League expanded their 2002 series schedule to 15 events with their first ever stop at Fontana Speedway in the heart of Southern California's "Inland Empire." Both of these moves should have Indy Car fans chomping at the bit for 2003!

The IRL's 400-mile race on the 2-mile superspeedway will take the green flag on March 24, 2002, one week after the IRL event at Phoenix.

The addition of the Fontana stop, coupled with CART's engine rules, bring the two series closer than they have been since Tony George founded the IRL in 1996. But neither should be considered losses or victories for the respective parties.

In revealing the decision by CART's Franchise Board, CART CEO Joe Heitzler set the record straight. He explained that the move was for the fans "because we're dedicating ourselves to the fans instead of a move towards unification."

"That's not what I was employed to do," said Heitzler.

But the recent addition of Denver to their schedule and this engine plan does provide a pair of back-to-back positives for the sometimes beleaguered organization. It will most likely keep Toyota in the CART fold. Heitzler says that he will meet with Ford and Honda shortly. He goes into those negotiations with some additional leverage.

If Honda and Ford decide that a non-turbocharged formula is not to their liking, CART's supply issues could be alleviated by IRL stalwarts, Oldsmobile (switching to the Chevy moniker next year) and Infiniti.

The move also makes a one race only choice by CART teams in connection with the Indianapolis 500 more possible. Powerplant R&D will already be part of a CART team's budget. Purchase of an IRL chassis and some (if desired) testing should be the only additional costs.

Should CART decide to compete in an IRL sanctioned Indianapolis 500, some of the IRL's marginal operations stand to miss the race and increase financial pressures upon them. That's where adding Fontana and increasing the overall IRL schedule is a healthy decision.

Now, IRL tams will have an additional revenue source. The scheduling of Fontana comes before Indy. Success at Homestead, Phoenix and Fontana will help struggling teams. Some IRL owners have expressed a desire to measure their performances against the best of CART and this will certainly do that. It will also ratchet up the annual bragging rights between the two series' fans.

I hope that officials at Fontana retain their CART finale. It would bookend their season with two Indy Car events. In between, let NASCAR show it wares. California has always been infatuated with hot cars and Indy Cars have always done well there.

What remains to be seen is if the Southern California fan base will support three races -- Long Beach and the Marlboro 500 for CART and the IRL's 400 miler. I hope so.

The announcements made this week strengthen both series. CART's global expansion has made them an effective Formula One alternative. The IRL's oval only philosophy has become a niche position that continues to grow.

Maybe Mr. Heitzler was correct. He wasn't hired by CART to engineer a unification plan. Instead, he has done what we all hoped that he would do. Help the two series find some common ground so that open wheel fans could begin to enjoy both in a healthy manner. After all, that would be a rivalry worth following.