Danica Patrick in romance with NASCAR competitor

(AP) -- Danica Patrick's personal life is no longer a secret - she's dating a fellow driver.

Patrick revealed to The Associated Press she and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are a couple, ending widespread speculation about the nature of their relationship.

"I have a boyfriend, his name is Richard," she said during an exclusive telephone interview with AP.

"I think I am just finally excited to tell someone about this," Patrick laughed, sounding almost giddy as she said the two-time Nationwide champion's middle name is Lynn and he prefers she use his first name.

The couple waited until the end of Charlotte Motor Speedway's weeklong annual media tour to go public with their relationship, which started as a friendship as they raced each other the last two seasons in the Nationwide Series. Stenhouse became a mentor of sorts to the 30-year-old Patrick, who left Indy-Car after the 2011 season to make the full-time switch to NASCAR.

"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 (with questions)," she said. "It was out of respect to NASCAR, to all the manufacturers, the new cars, the teams, the sponsors, just to allow 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 confirmed the relationship.

"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."

Patrick remains one of the most recognizable drivers in auto racing, even if wins have been hard to come by. There was speculation that her appeal with advertisers had waned, but sponsor Go Daddy said Patrick will again appear in the website domain provider's commercials during the Super Bowl next month.

Patrick announced in November she and husband Paul Hospenthal were divorcing after seven years, and said in the Jan. 3 filing that her marriage to the 47-year-old Hospenthal was "irretrievably broken."

Speculation immediately shifted toward her relationship with the 25-year-old Stenhouse, who has never been married.

While her policy has always been not to talk about her personal life, Patrick said she made an exception this time to end the gossip and so the two could be open about their relationship.

"I think that moving forward into the year, it's a matter of do you say anything at all, or do you just carry on?" she said.

"As opposed to speculation and people making up their own stories or talking among themselves or us feeling uncomfortable walking into each other's (motorhomes) moving forward, or around our teams or anything, it's just easier to be up front and get it out of the way then to have any kind of awkward speculation."

Stenhouse was asked during the media tour's stop at Roush Fenway Racing if he was dating Patrick. He dodged the question, saying "we've got a great relationship" and then turned attention back to racing.

The subject will be hard for the two to avoid as they compete against each other this season for rookie of the year honours in NASCAR's top Sprint Cup Series. Both are moving up from the second-tier Nationwide Series at the same time.

Patrick said she won't race Stenhouse any differently.

"Obviously, we've been racing together for a couple years now, him and I have always got along, we've always had a lot of respect for each other on the track, there's never been an issue out there," she said. "I always say I'll race people how they race me until they do something to make me change my mind. I don't anticipate that changing at all, or us having any issues on the track."

Reaction ranged from well wishes to "oh, well." The news also prompted plenty of jokes Friday.

NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer wants to know: "Who gets the (track) position getting into the corner? 'You go. No, you go. No, no, you go.' Who gets that position? There's a lot of give and take in a relationship."

Patrick rocketed to worldwide prominence when she challenged for the Indy 500 win as a rookie, becoming the first woman to lead laps while finishing fourth in 2005. She finished a career-best third in 2009.