Danica Patrick: There was no trash talk from Ricky Stenhouse after his Talladega win
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. didn’t brag about getting a Cup Series win before Danica Patrick this week.
Patrick and Stenhouse have been dating since 2013 and Stenhouse’s win at Talladega on Sunday was the first for either driver. On Friday, Patrick was asked if there was any trash talk from Stenhouse during the week and she made it clear there was not.
“We absolutely never mess with each other when it comes to that stuff,” Patrick said. “I think it is obviously because it means so much to us that it is a pretty crappy thing to do. Would you mess with your wife or girlfriend? I mean when it comes to golf or something I will totally mess with him but when it comes to something like this, no. We don’t talk about that at all.”
Stenhouse was on the same page too.
“No, we don’t talk about it,” Stenhouse said. “I mean, we are like every other driver. Everybody wants to win. I didn’t have bragging rights with anybody else that hasn’t won either. We just go out and try to win.”
Sunday’s win means Stenhouse is likely going to make NASCAR’s playoffs for the first time. After his team, Roush Fenway Racing, downsized to two cars for the 2017 its performance has improved. Stenhouse has five top-10 finishes in the first 10 races of the season and is currently 12th in the standings.
He’s never finished a season higher than 19th in his Cup Series career.
“I told my guys that I didn’t really want to change our approach to the weekends,” Stenhouse said. “I wanted to continue to do the same thing we have been doing throughout the season and try to limit our mistakes, try to keep that momentum going … I told the guys I wanted to make it on points. Let’s be consistent, let’s make sure we are running well and not slacking off. I want to act like we don’t have the win and still try to make it in on points.”
Patrick was able to meet Stenhouse in victory lane after the win because she was involved in an 18-car crash earlier in the race. The wreck gave her time to change before she watched the end of the race and rushed to victory lane.
“All I did was throw my tennis shoes on and got out the door on the golf cart and went to victory lane and waited for him to pull in. That was a gift of an experience to be able to have in our relationship because most of the time I would be dealing with my team and dealing with whatever I had going on,” Patrick said. “I had that chance to regroup. I was fresh as a daisy. I had showered and spend the afternoon standing around celebrating with him. It was a great day.”
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
