The NASCAR Daytona 500 may be looming closer, but the love affair between race car driver/model Danica Patrick and rival driver Ricky Stenhouse is all the buzz as of late.
Patrick and Stenhouse have been fielding questions from reporters all week during Daytona 500 Media Week about their romantic relationship, an interesting development as both drivers will also be competing for NASCAR's most prestigious race on Feb. 24.
"That's obviously a big question in a lot of people's minds, fans' minds,'' Patrick said Thursday. "I had a friend say, 'I'm excited to see how you guys race against each other when you're out there.' That's someone [who] isn't even into racing, curious to see how that will go.
With the news of their relationship breaking out, fans have been dying to know more about the new racecar couple, and during Media Week, Patrick and Stenhouse spoke candidly on a number of things concerning their new romantic coupling.
Was there any friction in the idea of dating a competitor?
With Patrick's trademark No. 10 Chevrolet due to square off against Stenhouse's No. 6 Ford for 2013 rookie of the year in NASCAR's premier series, Patrick admits that she initially had dounts about dating a racing rival.
"Initially it was a mental hurdle of, 'we compete against each other,' " she told USA Today. "It's like the Capulets and the Montagues with Chevy and Ford. This just all doesn't work.
"But you can't tell your heart who to like or not like, so it ended up being I didn't think it was even a big deal at all."
How did they celebrate Valentine's Day?
As it turns out, even with busy race competition schedules, Patrick and Stenhouse celebrate the biggest romantic holiday of the year just like any other couple. Speaking on their Valentine's Day plans, Patrick said she is cooking and told ESPNÂ that Stenhouse had given her a Hermes Playing Card Holder, which comes in handy as Patrick is an avid card player.
Does Dating Someone They Compete Against Change the Way They Race?
Apparently, not, according to Stenhouse, a 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Champion, who says that his approach to racing is still professional once he starts his engines on the race track.
"I think for everybody to assume it is going to make me race any different is wrong,'' Stenhouse told the Boston Globe. "It's not going to. I am respectful to my teammates and I will be respectful to her, but I am respectful to everyone on the racetrack.
"I don't feel like if somebody crashes her I am going to go crash them because of it. I am out there to do my job. I am out there to put on the best performance I can for my sponsors and my team and my fans.
Does Stenhouse Feel OverShadowed By His More-Famous Girlfriend?
The two-time nationwide championm doesn't seem to be attracting as much attention in the headlines as Patrick, his more famous girlfriend, has been. And yet, Stenhouse insists, he's not worried about that at all.
"It doesn't bother me. I know it is a big story and people have been waiting to talk about it, waiting to ask about it," Stenhouse said, according to Motorsport.com. I think it is a cool opportunity for me to come into Matt's (Kenseth) number with a totally different team and because of the story people don't realize it is a different crew chief, team and over the wall guys. The only thing the same is the number and the sponsors. I think we have accomplished a lot in NASCAR in the Nationwide series and to think that is going to translate right over to the Sprint Cup Series the first year is a little difficult. I think we are capable of doing that though and that is the plan. At the end of the season we want to be talking about our performance."
How Is the Couple Handling All the Attention That Has Been Focused on their Relationship Lately?
Media attention since Patrick revealed that she and Stenhouse were dating last month has been ratcheting. However, the new couple says that they're unfazed by the attention.
"I'm happy to answer them. I'm happy to talk about it. It's fine with me,"Patrick said. "It seems (Stenhouse) is doing pretty well. A little while back, he was talking about he doesn't like to have people starting at him, I said, 'You better get used to that, because there's going to be a lot of people looking at you.' He said, 'No they're going to be looking at you.' I said, 'No, they're going to be looking at you as well.' He's doing good (with it)."
Stenhouse backs that assertion up wholeheartedly.
"Well we are happy and that is good right? I feel like what I have learned in my career in racing is that anytime you are happy off the race track it tends to show up on the race track. That is one good thing that we have going. We are both happy, we are focused on racing and having fun," he said.