ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The speculation going into Sunday’s start of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar season is that it will be Danica Patrick’s open-wheel racing swan song.

Patrick, in her second year as a part-time NASCAR driver in the Nationwide Series, has never said she will quit IndyCars after this season, but her smiling face and solid performances in the first four NNS races this season speak volumes for the little lady from Roscoe, Wisc., who turned 29 on Friday.

“I am not involved right now in any negotiations regarding next season,” she said at Bristol Motor Speedway last week where she wrecked her No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet near the end of the NNS race.

But all that means is that her handlers at International Management Group are doing it for her.

And it says here that, unless the unlikely happens and she wins the Indianapolis 500 in May, Patrick will saying goodbye to IndyCar.