INDIANAPOLIS -- Nissan North America, one of the original suppliers for the Indy Racing League, will no longer provide Infiniti engines to the IRL after this season.

The company said Friday its only racing program in 2003 will be with the Infiniti Pro Series, an IRL support series that begins competition this summer.

"The decision has to do with Infiniti's future business goals,'' said John Schilling, an Infiniti spokesman. "We've just announced a new Nissan 180 plan, a global plan, and participating in the IRL is not consistent with our goals.''

The new plan targets a boost in production from 2.6 million vehicles to 3.6 million and elimination of a $3 billion debt by 2005. The company also plans to introduce 28 new models in the next few years.

Schilling said the Infiniti Pro Series fits in better with the company's plans because Nissan will provide stock Q45 engines to TRW Inc., a Cleveland-based auto parts supplier, which will make racing modifications and sell the engines to the race teams.

Making and supplying engines to the IRL would cost a lot more, he said.

Chevrolet is the only other company currently producing engines for the IRL, but the 7-year-old series scored a major coup when both Honda and Toyota announced they would leave the rival Championship Auto Racing Teams and join IRL next season.

Both Toyota and Honda made their decision last October, when CART announced it would switch from the 2.65-liter turbocharged engines to normally aspirated motors similar to the ones used in IRL.

On Thursday, however, CART said it would keep its turbos, with a single manufacturer supplying power plants to the entire series next season. Ford's Cosworth Racing unit is expected to get the contract.

Schilling said the decision by Infiniti -- which has won only two of 62 races since the IRL's debut in 1996 -- had nothing to do with the competition from Toyota and Honda.

"The decision to do this was made long before these guys decided to get in,'' he said.

Infiniti's only IRL victories were by Eddie Cheever at Pikes Peak in 2000 and at Kansas Speedway last year.

A message seeking comment was left for Dick Caron, general manager for the Indianapolis-based Cheever Indy Racing team.