MONTEREY, Calif. -- In a move that's more formality than breaking news because of plummeting revenue, Championship Auto Racing Teams decided Monday that it will consider selling the company.

A public company since 1997, CART's stock has plummeted from a high of $33 a share in 1998 to a little more than $3 because of internal strife, bad business decisions and the defection of major teams and manufacturers during the past three years.

CART at this time is spending millions to keep some of its 19 cars on the track and its war chest, once valued at more than $130 million, has shrunk to less than $40 million.

The company has hired investment banker Bear Stearns & Co. to help it examine options.

Since taking over CART's management before the 2002 season, CART CEO Chris Pook has maintained his goals were to take CART private and stabilize the company.

"Some of the naysayers may put a negative spin on it but it's the first step of what will be good news for this company," Pook said. "I think we've got a very structured plan and this company will be on solid footing by the end of next year."

Pook spent Friday in Montreal visiting with Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone, who has been rumored for the past several months to be interested in investing in CART.

Asked about the significance of his Canadian trip, Pook continued to maintain his stance that he and Ecclestone are simply old friends in the business of open wheel racing and they enjoy discussing their prospective series.

Gerald Forsythe, whose cars finished first and third in Sunday's Grand Prix of Monterey and is the largest CART shareholder, claimed Sunday he didn't know about any impending press release but was hopeful Ecclestone would make a decision in the coming weeks.

Forsythe also hinted that there was another group interested in the event Ecclestone declined.

Meanwhile, Craig Pollock, who fields a team in CART and is an F1 BAR-Honda shareholder, admitted Sunday he is interested in buying an interest in the Champ Car series.

"CART has put a business plan toward a private bank and is obviously looking for other investors to take it off the public and privatize it," he said. "I am not denying there is a possibility I could be one."

Pollock also met with Bernie Ecclestone and Pook and there's been speculation Pollock could be put in charge of the series if Ecclestone purchased it.

Pollock said CART, in its current form, is "a confusing series." To fix it, he said he wanted to race only on street and road circuits and change the name to the "American Grand Prix Series" to help it gain popularity in the United States.

He also said CART should stop trying to compete with rival Tony George and the IndyCar Series.

"It's an absolute fact that we've got two series fighting for the same sponsors," he said. "We need to realize that Tony has got his series and we've got to build our own brand and our own future."

Reporting from the Associated Press was used in this story.