CART has been struggling in recent years, and next season loses some engine manufacturers and teams to the IRL.

Ecclestone and Chris Pook, CART’s president and CEO, acknowledge they met recently. But neither would say what was discussed.

Published reports in Tuesday’s Toronto Sun said CART’s board of directors will consider selling 51 percent of its shares to Ecclestone.

Bylaws of the publicly traded company prevent any shareholder from owning more than 10 percent, although the directors could vote to change that.

A source close to CART, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed Ecclestone and Pook have been working on a deal. An agreement to bring the series under the control of F1 might give the European-based series a much-needed marketing boost in North America.

F1 has raced on five continents, including North America, in recent years. But there was no race in the United States for nearly a decade until F1 began staging the U.S. Grand Prix in 2000 in Indianapolis.

When asked in a recent interview about possible talks with Ecclestone, Pook said he was considering many objectives in his effort to keep CART a viable series.

“We’ll do whatever it takes to get that done,” he said.

Pook, in Australia for the CART race Saturday, was unavailable for comment Tuesday. Ecclestone did not return telephone calls from The Associated Press.

Glen Reid, an analyst with Bear Stearns & Co., who closely follows CART, expressed surprise that such a deal could be in the works, although he has heard the rumors.

“I didn’t believe that Bernie needed to do that,” Reid said. “Depending on how you look at it, it might make sense.”

Asked why such a move by Ecclestone would make sense, Reid speculated that F1 might be interested in acquiring a feeder system.

“I just wonder why he needs to do that,” Reid said. “Most CART drivers already aspire to reach F1 anyway, and F1 wouldn’t need to own CART to make that happen.”

Reid said the move might make more sense for CART. It has lost prestige since formation of the IRL, which took away the Indianapolis 500 in 1996.

“The company is in the process of rebuilding its brand and the way it operates,” Reid said. “Chris Pook has said himself this is not going to happen overnight. Right now, they just have to keep as many drivers and teams around as they can.”

Pook has guaranteed there will be at least 18 cars in the series in 2004, although fewer than 10 have been assured at this point.