CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. have split as a couple after nearly five years.
A spokeswoman for Patrick confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday that the drivers are "no longer in a relationship."
Patrick didn't attend the season-ending awards ceremony last month in Las Vegas with Stenhouse, who was honored for making NASCAR's playoffs in 2017. That led to speculation about the most high-profile couple in motorsports.
Patrick and Stenhouse announced they were dating in early 2013. She confirmed that by telling the AP: "I have a boyfriend, his name is Richard."
It was an unconventional pairing. They raced against each other weekly, and over the course of their relationship they clashed competitively, leading to post-race disagreements.
Patrick is 35 and had been previously married before she began dating Stenhouse. He recently turned 30.
She has made no secret of a desire to marry again, and revealed in a recent documentary directed by Hannah Storm she has frozen eggs in case she decides to have children one day.
Patrick is retiring as a full-time driver and hopes to end her career next year by racing in the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500. It's an outgoing celebration she has dubbed the "Danica Double."
Russian lawmaker banned from Olympics: The IOC says it has banned Russian lawmaker Alexei Voevoda from the Olympics for life for taking part in the 2014 Sochi Olympic doping program.
Voevoda was brakeman for Alexander Zubkov who drove Russia to victory in the two-man and four-man bobsled events.
Those titles were stripped last month when an IOC disciplinary commission disqualified Zubkov. He has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The judging panel later said urine samples from eight Russian bobsledders at Sochi had abnormally high salt levels and there were scratched glass bottles that were tampered with.