Danica Patrick back in NASCAR, future still uncertain

Patrick's pending decision has been a major topic of conversation all season, much of it coming as he jumped from NASCAR to the IndyCar Series and back again.Finding success in both series could make her choice even tougher. He was fourth in a Nationwide race at Las Vegas in March, the best finish for a female driver in NASCAR history, and has posted top-10s in her last IndyCar events. He also led ten laps in the Indianapolis 500, a brief stint out front that left her hungry for another shot at open-wheel's showcase event."It comes down to my gut and my desire and where I feel like I will be the happiest and where I feel like I will be able to have the most success," he said. "And then from those thoughts my team explores the choices. But it always starts with where I need to be."

Danica Patrick remains unaffected by the swirl of speculation that trails her in every single place, saying he's no timetable for making a call about her racing future.Patrick reiterated Thursday at Daytona International Speedway that she is in no hurry to chosen between IndyCar and NASCAR."These things, as I have said from the outset of the year, are complicated and they take time," Patrick said before the Nationwide Series practice. "Whether I am coming here or not has yet to be signed, sealed and delivered. I might not be. Only time will tell. That timeline on my side of things, I am not positive. All I do know is that I am told I have a job to do in the automobile and you do your job and we'll do our job and they fill me in from time to time. But it is only July."

The domain-name registration company known for its racy Tremendous Bowl ads is reportedly close to being bought by private investment firms for up to $2.5 billion."It has not affected my day," Patrick said. "Still working with all the same people. I don't know if it is true. Unless I listen to from Bob and they tells me it is been sold, it is all speculation till that point. For me, it is all status quo.""I keep in mind this came up in the early part of the year," Patrick said. "He called and told me that it wasn't true, and that was it. I haven't heard from him about it. I don't know if that means it is being done or if it is not going to be done. Perhaps they don't know that answer either."So I guess that why it is still in speculation mode as against reported true or reported false. Will that affect my relationship with them? I don't know. It might not modify anything. It might modify everything. I am not positive. But like I said, right now for me it is still status quo. We are trying to do a nice job for them and represent them well."Patrick done 10th in her last Nationwide race in Chicago in early June, and will return to IndyCar next week in Toronto.This weekend, though, he will try to hone her skills at Daytona. He was 14th at NASCAR's most famous track in the Nationwide season opener despite struggling with some aspects of the new tandem racing. He turned laps in practice Thursday before scrapping the wall and returning to the garage.