Miscellany

A month after reaching a major sponsorship deal that renamed the Championship Auto Race Teams Indy-car series, CART announced plans to go public.

CART said it has registered with federal securities regulators to sell nearly 4.6 million shares of common stock.

It was not immediately clear how much the offering could raise for CART, which plans to use the proceeds to buy the American Racing Series and a related entity, the Troy-based open-wheel racing association said in a news release.

Money from the stock sale also will help finance the league’s “future acquisitions” and race-related ventures, CART said.

CART runs and sanctions a 19-race Indy-car racing series and the PPG Dayton Indy Lights Championships. CART was the lone open-wheel racing series in the United States until Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George formed the Indy Racing League in 1995.

American tennis player Mary Joe Fernandez withdrew from next month’s Australian Open and a warm-up tournament because of a recurring wrist injury, the WTA Tour said.

Fernandez, ranked 10th in the world, is a two-time finalist in the Australian Open, scheduled for Jan. 19 to Feb. 1 in Melbourne. She lost in 1990 to Steffi Graf and in 1992 to Monica Seles.

“This is a chronic problem. Rest is all that can help,” said WTA spokeswoman Brooke Lawer.

Fernandez also withdrew from the Adidas International tournament, scheduled for Jan. 12-18 in Sydney.