With what we know so far of CART's intentions, calling the CART powerplants and those in the IRL "common" would be like comparing a Dodge Intrepid to the Detroit automaker's Viper.

The IRL has always included several caveats to approval of a specific engine. Whether its Oldsmobile (now carrying the Chevrolet moniker), Nissan Infiniti or the anticipated Toyota engine, all must operate with a rev limiter that currently kicks in at 10,500 rpm. Early whispers from the CART brigade is that no limiters will be required. That means the CART engines will likely contain different internals than the IRL engines.

It is only speculation, but could the rev limiter issue be one of the reasons Toyota has as of yet not announced any intentions to support CART's engine formula in 2003?

In addition to the limiters, the IRL also requires engine companies to provide engine kits, not completed engines. The kit costs are approved by the IRL with a maximum cash threshold for each. The part of the agreement that few talk about is that each approved engine manufacturer must also appoint a minimum of two licensed engine builders.

Will CART suppliers agree to the same scenarios? Not likely. For years, the manufacturers have treated their engines as proprietary property, assigning their engineers to each team that uses their equipment. Can you imagine a Butch Meyer, employed by an individual team instead of the engine company twisting wrenches on a CART powerplant?

R&D in the IRL flows through engine assemblers like Speedway Engines, Menard, Roush, TWR and Comp-Tech. When you have that type of arrangement, little can be hidden. If one assembler stumbles upon an edge, every team has the opportunity to purchase the edge by simply switching assemblers.

The IRL has worked diligently the past six seasons to build equity in its series. It has been successful because it has not allowed engine companies to simply write a blank check and then slowly entrench themselves so deeply that they begin to exhibit muscle beyond their role as a supplier.

I have never faulted CART for the evolution that shifted its direction from individual owners to a collective who allow a Board of Directors to map the series' future. I have always rued the day they invited the engine manufacturers into the board room.

NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. always kept the car companies at bay. He knew if he allowed Detroit too much power they would erode the "command and control" that has defined NASCAR since its birth.

NASCAR sets a standard and then cajoles, nudges and even tinkers with its rules to insure no one particular automaker gets a leg up. The league takes Detroit's money and its marketing. What it doesn't don't do is take its engineering word as gospel. Instead, it always goes on the assumption that each is looking for a piece of the lucrative pie that NASCAR has created.

I have never seen NASCAR face the prospect of enticing a supplier to enter its series. Instead, it has guarded its turf with the distrust of a zealot.

The IRL has not gone that far, but it has learned how to play the game. It would be easy for the IRL to make some concessions to entice additional engine manufacturers to play in its sand box. The allure of marketing money spent by companies like Ford, Honda or Mercedes coming to the IRL, swelling that already being spent by Infiniti and Chevrolet, is seductive.

But the costs are too high for the six-year organization. The risk-reward ratio is not worth the gamble. Instead, the IRL needs to stick to its guns and make any and all comers abide by its rules.