CART HAS DARK DAYS AHEAD.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK Motor Sports

Despite losing Michael Andretti, Christian Fittipaldi, Dario Franchiti and possibly Cristiano da Matta, CART president and chief executive officer Chris Pook said the racing series hasn't been in better shape in the past 10 years.

Andretti and Franchiti have opted to compete in the rival Indy Racing League, following former CART mainstay Roger Penske and his two-car team that made the move for the 2002 season.

Fittipaldi, nephew of former CART champion Emerson Fittipaldi, will be racing on the NASCAR Busch Grand National Division in 2003.

Da Matta, who has already clinched this year's CART championship, is ready to follow former CART champions Juan Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve and test the waters of Formula One, if he can find a ride.

Losing its top teams and drivers is only one crisis facing CART as the season winds down. The next race is the Honda Indy 300 on Sunday in Australia, followed by The 500 at California Speedway in Fontana and the season finale in Mexico City.

Pook, who took over operation of the maligned series at the start of the season, recently talked about losing some of the biggest stars in the sport, the fate of the California Speedway race and what role the CART FedEx Series will play in the pantheon of auto racing.

It wasn't so long ago when 27 cars lined up to start the inaugural CART race at California Speedway in 1999. This year, it is likely 18 cars will qualify for the California Speedway race.

Even though more drivers have announced plans to race elsewhere rather than on the CART series, Pook all but guaranteed 20 cars will be racing on his series in 2003 and hinted as many as 22 would race.

The California Speedway race is scheduled to be the season finale in 2003, but that might change. Pook said he would like to see the season end in Miami, with a street race downtown.

But Pook was careful not to suggest the California Speedway race and CART oval racing in general are disappointments.

``We've always done well at Fontana,'' Pook said. ``We want to stay in ovals. It's unique to CART. But if the public doesn't want to see open-wheel racing on ovals, it would be silly to force-feed them. We got to listen to what the public wants.''

Recent reports by the Associated Press and the Toronto Sun have suggested Formula One head Bernie Ecclestone is trying to buy a majority interest in CART and convert the American racing series into a feeder program to Formula One.

Although Pook said it would be a great compliment to have such an arrangement with Formula One, there are no such negotiations between the CART board of directors and Ecclestone.

``Would we be interested in having a liaison relationship with Formula One? If you're an open-wheel series and race on road and street courses like we do, absolutely, we'd be interested,'' Pook said.

``We're never going to be Formula One. I think some of my predecessors were apt to say ... we were going to challenge Formula One. That was with their heads up their rears and looking out their navels. That's crazy.

``We have to understand very clearly what we are, what we've got and where we're going.''

At the moment, CART is a struggling series that is losing teams and drivers and running out of money in a difficult economy.

Trying to find a positive spin on CART racing is about as easy as finding traction on an ice rink.

Fans of CART can only hope Pook can get the series pointed in a profitable direction over winter. If not, the series might sink in the spring thaw.

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