BROOKLYN, Mich. -- The all-oval IRL is making preliminary plans to add road courses to its schedule, perhaps as early as 2005, SportsTicker has learned.

IRL vice president of operations Brian Barnhart met with representatives of its two chassis suppliers -- Panoz G Force and Dallara -- and requested both to start planning an update kit for the current IRL chassis by 2004. That kit will be tested before one or two road course venues are added to the schedule.

"It's part of Brian's normal communication with our manufacturers and constituents to make sure we are all on the same page," IRL president and CEO Tony George told SportsTicker. "Brian is having conversations with the chassis manufacturers so that we can provide for a smooth and methodical transition of these cars to eventually road race. He is making sure everyone knows where we are at."

George believes the time has come to consider the addition of road courses to a series that started in 1996 and has run every race in its history on oval tracks.

"We've been looking at opportunities that so far have not proven to be viable," George said. "I think our general feeling is we'll probably find an opportunity in the not too distant future in the life of the current chassis/engine package. We don't want to be faced with an opportunity to not be prepared to take advantage of it."

This week, the rival CART series issued its latest business report that revealed it will be out of money soon and will need to raise additional capital in order to compete in 2004. That could leave some very attractive road and street course venues available to the IRL.

George said the IRL's interest in adding up to two road courses to the schedule happened long before CART's latest business plan.

"It's just more a part of our ongoing internal dialogue has been for a while," George said. "Nothing has been sped up by anything that has happened in the last week or two or three. We have been talking about this for a while. We are not pressured to do anything for 2004 because right now, we are close to announcing our schedule and there are not any road courses on it. We are doing ovals next year."

"The IRL has a marketing plan to build the series and if the opportunity with a promoter came up to run a race in a marketplace they think is a good opportunity, it would be very successful," Andretti Green Racing president Kim Green said.

George started the IRL as a more affordable racing series. But the cost of running and maintaining a team has dramatically risen, with the addition of Toyota and Honda as engine suppliers, joining Chevrolet this season. Top teams such as Penske Racing, Andretti Green Racing and Target/Chip Ganassi Racing have left CART to participate in the IRL.

Kelley Racing manager Steve Newey said testing would be required on road courses and there would be an additional strain on engines because of the shifting.

"If CART is not in business next year, I'm sure there will be a high-demand for the IRL," Newey said. "For our team, I think the addition of road courses would be more practical because we will have more time to prepare for it. I think the adjustments the IRL is making are the right ones. I love road course racing and I want to see the series go road and street course racing because it is a great art form in open-wheel racing."

John Biddlecombe is the director of sales for G Force and was involved in Saturday afternoon's meeting at Michigan International Speedway, the site of Sunday's IRL Firestone Indy 400.

"He met with us to discuss the regulations for 2004 and nothing was finalized on road courses," Biddlecombe said.

In order to convert the all-oval-designed IRL chassis to one that could also compete on road courses, Biddlecombe said both chassis companies would have to improve the brakes, the cooling system, add a new fuel cell and slightly change the geometry of the suspension. He indicated that would cost each team between $100,000 to $125,000.

"I think our car could easily be converted to a road course car," Biddlecombe said. "I think it would be a very good idea to add several road courses to our current schedule of 16 ovals. I think that would make for a terrific series."

Biddlecombe said Barnhart's goal is to primarily be an oval racing series but indicated the addition of a few road courses.

"In 2005, we will be going to one or two road courses," Biddlecombe said. "That is my gut feeling."

Newey has concerns about the cost of the engine modification but favors the addition of road course races.

"My first thought is how that will increase our expenses," Newey said. "There is obviously different suspension and brakes and it will be harder on gearboxes. I think the cars will be more maintenance-intensive and we will go through parts a lot faster. We will need additional update kits from the manufacturer. My biggest concern is how it will increase our costs. The $125,000 would be the upfront cost for the update kit itself."

Team owner Roger Penske has a strong heritage in road course racing and ovals from his days in CART.

"There has been some discussion about adding a couple road course races in time and I think 2005 is probably the time you might see some road races," Penske said. "For us, it can't be bad. We don't want to add a lot more races. We want to race in the best markets that we can. One of the benefits we have right now is a solid series with 16 or 17 races.

Penske is the all-time victory leader at the Indianapolis 500 with 13 wins as a team owner and does not want a de-emphasis of the ovals.

"I think having some road racing would add some differentiation, but I don't want to see us get away from a solidly oval racing schedule," he said. "I think ovals are where we get the best racing."

Two-time CART champion and dfending Indy 500 champion Gil de Ferran has quietly hoped the IRL would add some road courses to its schedule and was pleased to hear the prospect may become a reality.

"I welcome a move to road racing," de Ferran said. "From a very selfish standpoint, I miss road racing. If we get to do that again, it would be great. I still love road racing and I miss it. I think America has some of the best permanent road courses out there, like Road America and Laguna Seca and Mid-Ohio, along with street circuits like Long Beach."

Panther Racing co-owner John Barnes, who heads a homegrown IRL operation, also supports the IRL's decision to add road course racing to its mix.

"I think that would be great," Barnes said. "This series needs diversity, and two road course races a year would be incredible, especially if they are great venues like Toronto and Long Beach. It's going to be more expensive, but the venues will pay more, also, so it's a wash. If CART dies, it's an obligation of ours to help those race fans in those venues. Toronto has been a happening for years and so is Long Beach. It would be an honor to race there."