Tomas Scheckter's absence from the Red Bull outfit at St. Louis has set the rumor meter bouncing yet again. In deciding not to compete at St. Louis, the 21-year-old rookie cited safety concerns as his reason for taking to the sidelines.

Safety?

Scheckter refused to expound upon his concerns when ABC analyst Scott Goodyear talked to him. He did tell Goodyear he wants to return to the IRL and hopes he will be part of the series next year.

Juxtaposed to those statements was the Scheckter sighting in Montreal where CART was running on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve circuit for the first time.

Some have suggested that Scheckter's decision was the result of a recent race where he had a tire going down and was not warned by his crew. When Scheckter was released from the infield care center after crashing with Billy Boat after the tire finally went flat, Boat explained he tried to signal Scheckter about the tire. Scheckter was visibly upset that he had no warning from the on-board telemetry.

Or did he?

That might be the crux of the issue.

Its no secret that Scheckter has been at odds with team owner Eddie Cheever Jr. A combination of crashes and verbal jousting has left the two seemingly headed for divorce. The addition of Buddy Rice at Michigan coupled with Scheckter's switch to a crew imported from Greg Beck's dormant operation made Scheckter angry. It also might have hurt the youngster more than any of us will know.

	Scheckter wrecks have not been unfamiliar sights this year.

Winning at Michigan glossed over the growing rift and at Kentucky, Red Bull expanded to a three-car operation.

"I certainly didn't like what happened the week prior to Michigan and with the lack of communication within the team and the stuff that was said in the press," Scheckter said while preparing for his first Kentucky race. "It wasn't good, but you have to get on with it. I can't dwell on that all the time. We have to move on, and we have to find a better way to work."

That better way turned out to be walking away for the Cape Town, South Africa native.

But the safety thing still haunts me.

Keep in mind that Cheever, through TWR, his engine supplier and quasi-partner, has Scheckter under a two-year-contract. That means that regardless of the sour dynamics that may exist, Cheever controls Scheckter's career until the end of 2003.

With several drivers said to be departing CART, some very attractive rides are available there. Scheckter has always lusted for a shot to follow his father into Formula One. While at Montreal, CART boss Chris Pook hinted that CART is an excellent F1 development opportunity. If Scheckter wants to go to CART, he first must get out of his Cheever contract.

Here's a thought: Claim adverse safety issues and seek to dismantle your contract over them. The worst that can happen is that by sitting out, you force the contract into a breech and let lawyers settle the thing.

"We have invested a lot of money and effort into taking Tomas from a rookie to a winning driver in Indy Cars," Cheever said after Scheckter was a no-show at St. Louis. "One thing that I have come to expect from Tomas Scheckter is that you are never sure what Tomas is going to do."

Stay tuned.