HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Teams racing in both the Indy Racing League and CART will become easier, and a merger of the open-wheel series is possible -- maybe soon.

At least Roger Penske thinks so.

"In 36 months, we're going to have to have one series," Penske said Saturday before the IRL's season-opening Grand Prix of Miami. "You're going to take this year, you're going to take a transition year and one more year and then you're going to see what happens.

"It's going to be the fate."

In December, Penske -- the most successful owner in American open-wheel racing with 109 victories, 11 championships and 11 wins at the Indianapolis 500 -- made the stunning decision to move his open-wheel team to the rival IRL from CART, the series he helped form in 1978.

Marlboro Team Penske made the move for two key reasons: the sponsor wanted to focus on domestic markets better served through the IRL and be able to better prepare for the Indy 500 -- the IRL's showcase event -- every year.

"This has taken us five years to make this decision," Penske said. "It's driven around the fact that the Indy 500 is so important. If you can't play in the Super Bowl, you've got to look at what league you're in. We made our move strictly because we thought it was the best thing for the team."

Under the master settlement tobacco companies can participate in only one series in a sport.

Helio Castroneves, last year's Indianapolis 500 winner, and Gil de Ferran, the two-time CART champion, followed their leader to the IRL.

Penske doesn't expect his move to be the catalyst for a mass exit from CART, but he said new technical specifications announced recently by CART to begin in 2003 will force the merger. The new specifications are very similar to those currently used in the IRL.

"The issue is long-term -- we can't have two series," Penske said. "If they want to have an international road-race series, that's fine. But sooner or later, you've got to make a decision. We didn't have a budget to run in both series."

Cheever's crash
Owner/driver Eddie Cheever Jr. can blame only one person for his early wreck Saturday: rookie teammate Tomas Scheckter.

Trying to pass Cheever on the third lap, Scheckter brushed his boss and knocked him into the wall in Turn 4. Scheckter, who signed with Red Bull Cheever Racing on Tuesday, wrecked during practice Friday but drove his backup car into the third starting spot.

Cheever was not injured, but both cars were damaged.

"We talked about this until I was blue in the face," Cheever said. "'Take your time,' we said to him. I would be just as angry right now if he had done that somebody else, but to do it to your teammate -- that's asinine."

Scheckter, the 21-year-old son of former Formula One champion Jody Scheckter, making his IRL debut, had to make a pit stop and quickly slipped out of contention. He rallied to finish sixth.

Turn 4 terror
Turn 4 was tough for several drivers. Jon Herb, Jaques Lazier, Rick Treadway, Billy Boat and Billy Roe crashed in the final turn on the 1½-mile oval -- and strong wind might have played a part in the wrecks.

Herb, in his second season, actually crashed during a warmup session Saturday morning. He spun in the turn and hit the wall. He was not injured, but unable to get his backup car ready to race.

Lazier made light contact with the wall on lap 23. He returned to track well off the pace. Treadway hit the wall hard on lap 30, walked away from the crash but did not return. Boat spun on lap 38 but stayed in the race. Roe bounced off the wall on lap 160. He also checked out fine.

"I just spun around," Treadway said. "From there, I was along for the ride."

Wind gusting to about 20 mph was coming over the Turn 3 wall and pushing the cars from behind through the final sweeping turn.

"It was like dirt track racing," said race winner Sam Hornish Jr.

Driver tribute
A special tribute was held before the race for Grand American series driver Jeff Clinton. Practicing for Saturday's Nextel 250, Clinton was killed Friday when his open-cockpit race car veered off course, flipped repeatedly and landed upside down. The 38-year-old driver was St. Louis died at the scene.

Driving a Grand Am car, Clinton's Archangel Motorsport Services teammate Jeff Tillman went two laps in the opposite direction while holding a checkered flag out the window. Crew members and track officials lined up near walls to show their support.

Pit stops