ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- CART officials have postponed the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, citing schedule conflicts created by the proposed sale of the cash-strapped auto racing series.

The St. Petersburg race was set for Feb. 22. Instead, CART will try to open the season April 18 in Long Beach, Calif.

"Our teams need a certain amount of time to properly prepare themselves for a racing season," CART president Chris Pook said Monday in a statement.

The Indianapolis-based CART series has suffered from serious financial problems for several years and is hoping to complete a sale to Open Wheel Racing LLC sometime this month, possibly as soon as Dec. 18. Open Wheel, formed by three CART team owners, has offered $7.4 million -- about 56 cents a share -- for all of CART's outstanding stock.

If that sale does not go through, CART officials said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month that the series will run out of money and "will be required to cease operations and cancel the 2004 season."

CART officials hope to reschedule the race for sometime in 2004. Calls placed to several race teams late Monday were not returned.

A short transition period between the approved sale of the series and the start of next year's racing might not allow teams -- many of which have limited financial backing -- to address sponsorship issues adequately before the St. Petersburg race.