INDIANAPOLIS -- CART needs to raise more money in order to ensure it will run a full season of racing next year.

Shares of Championship Auto Racing Teams Inc. dropped nearly 16 percent Wednesday after the publicly traded company lowered financial expectations and warned it will not return to profitability before 2006.

CART cited lower-than-expected revenue in the first half of the current racing season from sanction fees, sponsorship sales and television advertising.

Indianapolis-based CART said in a statement that "management now expects that it will need to raise additional capital to complete the 2004 season."

Adam Saal, CART's vice president of communications, declined to say Wednesday how much cash was needed.

"We fully expect to be in operation for the entirety of 2004," Saal said.

Eric DeBord, head of PROtential, a Chicago-based firm that tracks business trends in racing, said it might prove tough for CART to find a new investor.

CART, which became a publicly traded company in 1998, said last month that it would consider putting itself up for sale. The series hired a Wall Street investment firm to explore alternatives. One potential buyer is Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone.

DeBord said CART's announcement Tuesday of its latest financial troubles increases the chances that the company would be bought out.

"It's no doubt going to increase the pressure to do these things," he said.

CART's statement said financial projections beyond 2004 are "very speculative."

"Currently, however, management does not expect the company to have positive cash flow from operations or earnings any earlier than 2006," CART said.

On Wednesday, CART shares closed down 39 cents at $2.18 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The announcement came after the completion of 10 of the season's 19 open-wheel races which CART owns, operates and markets. Based on racing so far, CART expects revenue this year from sanction fees to total $24 million to $25 million, down $1 million from its earlier projection. Sanction fees are determined based on the commercial success of each race.

CART also said sponsorship sales are lower than expected this year.

"With a soft advertising market and an economy that is struggling to recover, sponsorship sales continue to be a challenge for the company," CART said.