Romance is in the air for recently divorce NASCAR driver Danica Patrick. The racing car champ confirmed that the speculation that she is dating fellow NASCAR driver Richard Stenhouse, Jr. is true on Friday morning.
"I think I am just finally excited to tell someone about this," she said during a phone interview. "I have a boyfriend, his name is Richard," said the 30-year-old Patrick during an interview with the Associated Press.
After a seven year marriage, Patrick filed for a divorce from 47-year-old Paul Hospenthal on January 3 and wasted no time moving forward with the 25-year-old Stenhouse, whom she met two years ago while racing in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series.
Patrick and Stenhouse's relationship became the focus this week during media days in Charlotte, N.C., which kick off the new racing season. "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," she said after getting questioned on the subject. "It was out of respect to NASCAR, to all the manufacturers, the new cars, the teams, the sponsors, just to allow all 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 until the end of the week to be up front about each other."
Stenhouse, the two-time reigning champion in the Nationwide Series, also spoke publicly about his relationship with the model/driver. "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."
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