As the Indy Racing League heads to Richmond, Va., for the June 29 SunTrust Challenge, the popularity of the seven-year old series continues to grow. Projections for another crowd increase at the ¾-mile Virginia oval coupled with announced sell-outs at both Kansas Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway paint an encouraging picture for the season's second half.

It's not, however, entirely clear sailing for the IRL. The series ends its current chassis and -- through attrition and addition -- engine programs at the conclusion of the season. The chassis run has been excellent. On-going development of both the Dallara and G-Force produced a unit that has served both owners and drivers well.

Next season, it will be new equipment. Both Honda and Toyota join Chevrolet as engine suppliers and that's where potential clods may develop. It's not fair to call them storm clouds, but as any seafarer will warn, a close watch of the horizon will reward you.

When the current chassis program started, the IRL was populated by just a few financially sound operations. Shackled by the narrow rules the IRL mandated, these barons discovered that despite vast sums available for research and development, their edge was blunted by the rulebook.

But, the balance scale has shifted. The addition of Chip Ganassi, Team Penske, Mo Nunn Racing and Blair Racing from CART -- a free-spending technology-driven series -- has raised the bar in the IRL. The rumored addition of Team Green and possibly others next year will reflect a shift towards financial sophistication. It will be incumbent upon the IRL's staff of scrutineers that they hold fast to the narrow rules that have been their map so far.

The pressure will be greater than ever. I am not advocating cheating or implying that. What I am saying is that the new crop of IRL teams are more creative and ready to devote time, energy and finances to the smallest edge they can gain.

The positive side of this money migration has been and will be a continued increase in competition. The liability is the broadening of the gap between the "haves" and "have-nots."

Honda and Toyota's arrival fits this category. While Nissan was the "yin" to Chevy's "yang," he addition of these two Japanese giants ups the ante for all three. Infiniti was always developmentally challenged. Former Infiniti types admit they "may have underestimated the task" they faced when they arrived in the IRL. They played catch-up and will now re-direct their efforts to a smaller IRL playing field next year with their Pro Series deal a better fit.

You can be sure neither Honda nor Toyota underestimate their task. Both are already hard at work and will come out of the gate at full gallop. Because exclusive leasing is not allowed in the IRL, it will be much harder for the two to hide proprietary edges, but you can be sure they will try.

It's the same thing the IRL has had to guard against with Chevy and Infiniti, but the level of sophistication will increase. Mix in the expected millions of marketing dollars both are expected to throw around and it's easy to imagine some interesting conflicts.

With all that said -- or warned, rather -- the IRL's 2003 season is shaping up to be an excellent one. Early indications call for just the addition of Japan to the current 15-race schedule. Television ratings inch up, but still need attention. Marketing efforts are on the upswing and the IRL is no longer a forgotten series.

Simply engaging in this discussion of potential problems reflects the health of the IRL. No one would care about the future if the IRL was not on a roll.