LEXINGTON, Ohio (AP) The 2003 CART schedule released Sunday includes races in May - when teams prepare for the IRL's Indianapolis 500.

CART did not race this May to allow CART teams to compete in the rival circuit's race without having to prepare for CART events at the same time.

"We're anxious to run in the month of May," said Chris Pook, CART's president and chief executive. "We're not going to have that gap we had this year.

Pook said he expected some CART teams to continue competing at Indianapolis.

"We're delighted for our teams to compete in the Indianapolis 500 if they're acceptable to the Indianapolis 500. We have great respect for the Indianapolis 500 and the city of Indianapolis."

The schedule also includes events at two new sites and the circuit's first February race.

CART's earliest opening ever will come Feb. 23 on a new street course in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Races in Monterrey, Mexico, on March 23 and Long Beach, Calif., on April 13 will be followed on April 27 by an event at an undisclosed site in southern Europe.

CART will return to Rockingham, England, on May 4 and will race in Chicago on May 18.

The 2003 Chicago race would be on the final day of qualifying for the 500.

The schedule will end at Fontana, Calif., on Nov. 2. It will be the first time in three years CART has begun and ended its season in the United States. This year's schedule started and will finish in Mexico.

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