CART silly season picks up.

Next season's Fed-Ex Championship Series could have a completely new-look to it with many of the top drivers either leaving the championship or moving teams. The Mid Ohio round of the CART series is often the scene of much transfer talk and the situation was no different this year.

It started on Saturday when current Championship leader Michael Andretti indicated that he would not be returning to the Newman-Haas outfit next year despite having two years left to run on his current deal. Early speculation that the American veteran would rekindle his long-running rivalry with fellow Indy legend Al Unser Jr in the Indy Racing Northern Light Series has faded and Andretti's future now appears to lie in Champ Cars for the foreseeable future.

It seems as though Andretti and team co-owner Carl Haas could not reach an agreement over the driver's retainer for the next two seasons, according to US Motorsports Network Speedvision.

"We didn't agree on the numbers, and not necessarily for next year," said the cigar chewing Haas on Saturday. "The costs keep going up, and I don't know if I'll be able to pay what he wants."

A place in the IRL would be attractive to Andretti who would love to race in the Indy 500 again although a CART program including the Indy 500 would be even more appealing. It is also believed that very few, if any, IRL teams would be able to afford Andretti's salary which is rumoured not to give much change out of $10 million per annum.

Another big name on the move next year will be Jimmy Vasser as Chip Ganassi looks to completely restructure his team in the wake of Juan Montoya's almost certain defection to Formula One. Vasser has been a Ganassi driver since 1995 and still has one year remaining on his current contract.

"Chip talked to me Saturday night," said the 34 year old driver who won the 1996 CART title for Ganassi. "He said he wanted to make a change, I had one year remaining on my contract and he opted to buy me out. So we agreed to a nice amicable divorce."

Despite some strong showings earlier in the year, Vasser's performance has dropped off in recent months and has been pushed out of the title picture. Ganassi's decision to abandon the Reynard-Honda package in favour of the Lola-Toyota set-up for this year has seen Vasser struggle more than Montoya as the team try to get to grips with the new chassis/engine combination.

Vasser has stated that he aims to stay in the CART series next year although it is not clear who with as yet. By the time the teams arrive in Elkhart Lake next weekend the transfer picture could become much clearer as drivers re-sign with their current teams or announce that they are moving on.

There are many other factors which must be taken into consideration before Andretti and Vasser can firm up their plans for next year. First is the position of Formula One driver Johnny Herbert who expects to confirm his plans with the series for 2001 in the next few weeks. Jaguar driver Herbert had been tipped to do a straight swap with Dario Franchitti in the Team KOOL Green outfit although with Franchitti's chance of a seat with the 'Big Cat' receding, Herbert's Ford contract could come into play.

Current Benetton pilot Alex Wurz and Williams tester Bruno Junquiera are also eyeing the CART series for 2001 while Alex Zanardi is set to return for the expanded Mo Nunn squad leaving much of the CART grid still undecided.