Danica Patrick has a complicated relationship and a complicated life. But she fully embraces the abnormalities — and wrote about them on Thursday for the world to see.
In a 1,041-word post for Derek Jeter’s new website, The Players’ Tribune, the NASCAR star peels back the curtain about her relationship with fellow driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Patrick, who was named the site’s latest senior editor, wrote a column about the intricacies of dating — and crashing into — another driver.
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“Ricky makes me happy, even if he pisses me off on the track every now and then,” Patrick wrote in her piece, titled “Relationship Status: Normal-ish.” “Couples argue from time to time, of course. That’s normal, right? Ahhh, who am I kidding, I don’t really care what’s normal and what’s not. I have never lived my life asking that question, so why would I start now?”
Patrick, who joins Super Bowl winner Russell Wilson as a senior editor of The Tribune, has dealt with her share of controversy and confrontations during her racing career. But she doesn’t buy into the notion, often perpetuated by the media, that she’s “extremely confrontational.”
“I prefer to see it as brutally honest,” she wrote.
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Patrick’s refreshingly honest look at her life off the track, and her admission of not having a normal relationship, will endear her even more to her loyal fan base — and likely attract new fans who feel they can relate to her. She said she hadn’t considered having children until she met Stenhouse, and the topic of motherhood in the future is now “a big part” of her life. She pointed out how she differs from Stenhouse, saying they’re “opposites in almost every way.”
“Look, if it’s crazy to want to go to sleep next to the person who ran your car off the road going 200 miles per hour earlier that day, then I’m certifiable,” Patrick wrote.
The Players’ Tribune will reveal its next athlete launch editor on Oct. 16.