Stenhouse happy with his ‘hot’ new girlfriend

Patrick and Stenhouse

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. just smiled and had a two-word answer when asked what he likes about girlfriend Danica Patrick.

"She's hot," he said.

And with that, Stenhouse addressed his new romantic relationship — a relationship with a fellow Sprint Cup driver — much like any 25-year-old talking about a budding romance as he addressed the media during NASCAR Media Day Thursday.

He looked at the bright side of the two full-time drivers battling for top rookie honors: "I told her I was going to win. At least we both get to go to the banquet," Stenhouse said.

He also had a dig for 2012 Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski, who said recently he was more worried about Stenhouse and Patrick breaking up: "Coming from someone that has never had a girlfriend?" he asked.

Stenhouse did make it clear how many motor homes the new couple would have at the track — "two motor homes," he said — and seemed to play along with questions about the novelty of two Cup competitors dating.

"We are happy, so that's good, right?" Stenhouse said. "What I have learned in my career in racing is that anytime you are happy off the racetrack, it tends to show up on the racetrack. That is one good thing that we have going. We are both happy, we are focused on racing and having fun."

Stenhouse even revealed his Valentine's Day gift for the 30-year-old Patrick: a set of fancy playing cards. She likes to play cards, he said.

"We have had a friendship for a long time and I can't cook and she can," Stenhouse said. "She loves to cook, so that is nice and I love to eat. We get along really well.

"I have never had someone that I can talk racing with, and I wasn't 100 percent sure how I would like that but I have enjoyed it. I think we can learn a lot from each other and be successful." Sporting news