New Aurora parts negate Infiniti advantage.

For much of this year's Indy Racing Northern Light Series, Eddie Cheever and his self run team have upheld the honours for engine supplier Infiniti, often being the only representative for the Japanese concern. For several seasons, Oldsmobile-Aurora have dominated the series and were undefeated for two whole seasons.

Cheever took Infiniti's first win in the IRL two weeks ago at Pikes Peak, taking the championship lead in the process. However Aurora moved quickly in an attempt to regain their long held domination by announcing that they will soon be adding some new, highly modified components to their engines.

No-one from Aurora would confirm what the new parts were exactly, Road Racing Manager for the concern Joe Negri only saying that the company have been "developing significant enhancements" for their engines.

IRL insiders believe that the modifications involve a newly designed cylinder head which has been in the pipeline since the season began, the heads are believed to offer the engine more driveability on short ovals coupled with sufficient power to compete on Superspeedways such as Indianapolis.

The next race on the IRL calendar takes place this weekend in Atlanta, series rules state that any engine supplier must make any new components available to all teams at once and cannot allow certain outfits exclusive deals. With all but two of the 26 cars entered for the Atlanta event using Aurora engines, sheer numbers may delay the appearance of the new parts until the penultimate round of the series at Kentucky in August.