The "second season" is underway in the Indy Racing League. While the league prepares to honor its champions this weekend in Chicago, teams have already begun testing for the 2003 campaign.

For outfits like Panther Racing and Team Penske, it means ironing out their new powerplants. New chassis won't become available for a while, but Panther's Sam Hornish Jr., Team Menard and Buddy Lazier's Hemelgarn Racing get the first cracks at Chevy's new smaller, lighter and higher horsepower Gen III issue.

Penske's guys have already started massaging Toyota's new engine. After a rumor that Helio Castroneves might bolt for Jaguar's Formula One operation, it's back to business for the Marlboro cars.

It came as no surprise that Penske would try and help Castroneves reach F1. Roger is a brilliant businessman. By making efforts on behalf of his two-time Indy 500 champion, Penske showed the young Brazilian that the road to F1 remains open.

Eddie Cheever's team is also testing and auditioning drivers. Ricardo Mauricio, 23, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, who has driving for the Red Bull Junior Team in the FIA International Formula 3000 series since 1999, passed his IRL rookie test Monday at Kentucky Motor Speedway in a Cheever mount, while Buddy Rice saw time behind the wheel working on 2003 development.

This "second season" will provide plenty of news. Fans will pour over every detail from these tests. We are all waiting for the first results from Andretti-Green's new IRL team and its work with Honda.

Now that the IRL's Infiniti Pro Series has finished its first season, eyes also are looking for the first IPS driver to move into the IRL. The Infiniti Series' two top names, Foyt and Luyendyk, are the favorites to be the first to make the jump.

Arie Luyendyk Jr., runner-up in the '02 standings, will test his father's G-Force from Fred Treadway's stable on Oct. 1 at Kentucky.

Before he ever stepped into an IPS car, the young Luyendyk predicted that by 2004 at the latest, he would be trying to qualify for the race his father has won twice -- the Indianapolis 500.

"I'll probably wait until 2004 to move up to the IRL," he said. "I learned a lot this year in the Infiniti Pro Series, and it won't hurt to do another year. Plus, it will be good to get experience on tracks we haven't been to yet, like Phoenix and Pikes Peak."

Those plans can quickly change based upon his performance and potential sponsors.

The Infiniti Pro champion is also ready for some testing in his grandfather's cars. Anthony Joseph Foyt IV, 20, kept his Pa-Paw smiling all season with four poles and four wins in just seven races.

"I'll say one thing, the kid has style," A.J. Foyt said. "When I signed him up last May, I figured he'd win a race but I never expected him to do as well as he did. He surprised me with how fast he adapted to the cars, the speeds, the big tracks and the length of the races. He had to face a lot of challenges including some very talented competition."

Anthony will see a lot of test time this winter in IRL cars. Foyt has made no secret that he is waiting around for his grandson to move into the IRL and infuse some new 'Foyt fury' into the operation.

A.J. IV matches well with A.J.'s driver Airton Dare. These two young guns have developed an excellent off-track friendship that would make their marriage in Indy Cars one of note.

The deciding factor will likely be made by A.J.'s other driver, Eliseo Salazar. The Chilean hero turns 48 in November. If Salazar decides to race for another year, Foyt will likely keep his grandson down on the Infiniti farm for another season. Should Salazar hang up his helmet, however, look for the elder Foyt to turn to A.J. Foyt IV for the ride.

In many ways the IRL's "second season" is just as exciting as the regular one. There is so much to learn, discern, translate and speculate. It will make the time fly until the series roars back to life March 2 in Homestead, Fla.