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INDIANAPOLIS The irony wasn't lost on Danica Patrick . The IndyCar star was taking in replays of old Indianapolis 500 broadcasts on cable when a breaking news bulletin flashed on the bottom of the screen. She had tentatively agreed to a deal that makes her a full-time NASCAR driver next season.
It may eventually be true, she said, but not for a while.
"I feel very flattered speculation about me makes 'SportsCenter.' I'm flattered when people care and they're curious," she said. "Maybe that's just how much people want to believe in something. But we're not there yet."
The timeline and the result remain fluid as her squadron of representatives continues to plumb opportunities and maximize her options for next season and beyond, either in IndyCars, where she will start the Indianapolis 500 for the seventh time Sunday, or in NASCAR, where she has raced part-time in the second-tier Nationwide Series for the past two seasons.
Whatever inclinations Patrick personally holds, she is holding them close. Her father and former agent, TJ, says he doesn't know. Her mother, Bev, says she doesn't want to know "until she's ready for the press release."
Michael Andretti, for whom Patrick has raced since 2007, said he is hopeful but has no timeline on her decision.
Izod, with a stake but without a say, is girding for business without one of the most marketable athletes in the world, and one of the clothing manufacturer's key reasons for signing on in 2009.
"You can't take any great athlete, or any great personality, out of a business or out of a sport and not make a dent," said Mike Kelly, Izod executive vice president of marketing. "She's a great personality with a great following. Her Q Score is off the charts."
But if she's off the grid, Kelly already has selected his new face of the series: 22-year-old second-year driver Simona de Silvestro. Her comeback from a practice crash to qualify 24th despite second-degree burns has become a media sensation. Kelly said, upon meeting her before the season, that de Silvestro "had all the talk of an athlete. There was no BS. She was out to deliver. She had proved herself in the sport. She won in Atlantics. I said, this one was one to watch. She wasn't out to sell watches. She is out to win.
"I'm not worried," he said. "Simona's got story. She's got momentum. I look at Simona, and I'm in love."
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