Clear as Mud; What will the 2003 IRL field look like?(Indy Racing League)(Brief Article)

There was at least one benefit from Tomas Scheckter's decision to abruptly give up his ride with Eddie Cheever's team during last weekend's Indy Racing League race at Gateway International Raceway: It cleared one issue surrounding the league's silly season for 2003. It's fair to say now that barring a major event like Red Bull leaving Cheever, Buddy Rice will remain Cheever's teammate for the rest of this season and likely next season as well. As for projecting Scheckter's future, well, that's difficult in light of the strange way he walked out of Cheever's camp. By now, everyone knows the tale of Scheckter and his tumultuous season with Cheever. Scheckter knocked his boss off the track on the third lap of the season (at Homestead) and nearly got fired afterward. That was just episode No. 1. Scheckter, who did not show up for the Gateway race because he said Cheever's cars were unsafe, said he has not talked to anyone about another racing ride. But he emphasized repeatedly that he wants to stay in the IRL. So where does he go? Ask Cheever. ``If someone wishes not to drive, then that's okay with me,'' he said. ``But if he wishes to drive for someone else, well, that's not okay. We intend to enforce his contract. It's that simple.''

There are other IRL rides to watch, too, though most aren't as interesting as Scheckter's. A.J. Foyt says he'll have a two-car team for 2003, which doesn't add up given that he has four drivers on the payroll right now. One of those is his 18-year-old grandson, A.J. Foyt IV, who won three of the Infiniti Pro Series' first four races. Foyt IV has said he'd like to be in the IRL next year, though Pops, as the kid calls him, isn't ready to commit: ``We'll have to see about that, he'll need a lot of testing before then.''

If Foyt IV stays in the Pro Series, Pops has to pick between Airton Dare, Eliseo Salazar and Greg Ray. Dare is a lock with Harrah's sponsorship, Foyt says, but there is no outside sponsor for either Salazar or Ray, the 1999 IRL champion. ``I'm paying out of my own pocket,'' Foyt says.

Most of the other top teams are planning only minor adjustments to their programs, assuming enough sponsorship dollars come in to cover the estimated 20 percent budget increases (new cars, engines and ...