Driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. talks to the media at a news conference during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Medi...

1. Racing star Danica Patrick tells AP she's dating fellow
NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. talks to the media at a news conference during the NASCAR Sprint Cup
Media Tour in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton) (The Associated
Press)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Danica Patrick's personal life is no longer a secret -- she's dating a fellow
driver.
Patrick revealed to The Associated Press she and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are a couple, ending
widespread speculation about the nature of their relationship.
"I have a boyfriend, his name is Richard," she said during an exclusive telephone interview with AP.
"I think I am just finally excited to tell someone about this," Patrick laughed, sounding almost giddy
as she said the two-time Nationwide champion's middle name is Lynn and he prefers she use his first
name.
The couple waited until the end of Charlotte Motor Speedway's weeklong annual media tour to go
public with their relationship, which started as a friendship as they raced each other the last two
seasons in the Nationwide Series. Stenhouse became a mentor of sorts to the 30-year-old Patrick,
who left IndyCar after the 2011 season to make the full-time switch to NASCAR.
"We are dating, and I know there's been a bit of a runaround this week at the media days and poor
Ricky got grilled (with questions)," she said. "It was out of respect to NASCAR, to all the
manufacturers, the new cars, the teams, the sponsors, just to allow although the news of the day to
be about racing and not let anything interfere with that. So, it's Friday now, so that's why we waited

2. until the end of the week to be up front about each other."
Stenhouse confirmed the relationship.
"Yes we are dating," he said. "I don't normally say too much about my private life, always been
focused on the track. I didn't want to confirm at media day so that we could keep the focus on the
season, the Gen-6 (car), my sponsors and team. That's what it's all about for me."
Patrick remains one of the most recognizable drivers in auto racing, even if wins have been hard to
come by. There was speculation that her appeal with advertisers had waned, but sponsor Go Daddy
said Patrick will again appear in the website domain provider's commercials during the Super Bowl
next month.
Patrick announced in November she and husband Paul Hospenthal were divorcing after seven years,
and said in the Jan. 3 filing that her marriage to the 47-year-old Hospenthal was "irretrievably
broken."
Speculation immediately shifted toward her relationship with the 25-year-old Stenhouse, who has
never been married. While her policy has always been not to talk about her personal life, Patrick
said she made an exception this time to end the gossip and so the two could be open about their
relationship.
"I think that moving forward into the year, it's a matter of do you say anything at all, or do you just
carry on?" she said. "As opposed to speculation and people making up their own stories or talking
amongst themselves or us feeling uncomfortable walking into each other's (motorhomes) moving
forward, or around our teams or anything, it's just easier to be up front and get it out of the way
then to have any kind of awkward speculation."
Stenhouse was asked during the media tour's stop at Roush Fenway Racing if he was dating Patrick.
He dodged the question, saying "we've got a great relationship" and then turned attention back to
racing.
The subject will be hard for the two to avoid as they compete against each other this season for
rookie of the year honors in NASCAR's top Sprint Cup Series. Both are moving up from the second-
tier Nationwide Series at the same time.
Patrick said she won't race Stenhouse any differently.
"Obviously, we've been racing together for a couple years now, him and I have always gotten along,
we've always had a lot of respect for each other on the track, there's never been an issue out there,"
she said. "I always say I'll race people how they race me until they do something to make me change
my mind. I don't anticipate that changing at all, or us having any issues on the track."
Stenhouse echoed that attitude.
"It won't affect how I race on the track. I want to go out and win, I race everyone hard," he said.
Patrick rocketed to worldwide prominence when she challenged for the Indy 500 win as a rookie,
becoming the first woman to lead laps while finishing fourth in 2005. She finished a career-best third
in 2009. She began dabbling in NASCAR in 2010 in the Nationwide Series, and moved full-time last
year leaving IndyCar and the 500 behind.

3. Patrick has struggled in stock cars, notching just seven top-10s in 58 Nationwide races since 2010.
Still, she was voted by fans the series' most popular driver last year.
In the Sprint Cup Series, where she'll drive this season for Stewart-Haas Racing, team co-owner
Tony Stewart handpicked 10 of the hardest tracks for Patrick last season to force her to learn on the
fly in preparation for this year. Her average finish in the 10 races was 28th and her best finish was
17th in her season finale at Phoenix.
Stenhouse has won eight races over the last two seasons to become the first driver since Martin
Truex Jr. in 2004-05 to win consecutive Nationwide titles. He was promoted this year by Roush
Fenway to the Cup Series to replace 2003 NASCAR champion Matt Kenseth.
http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2013/01/25/racing-star-danica-patrick-tells-ap-dating-fellow-nascar-d
river-ricky-stenhouse/