Stenhouse Beats Girlfriend for Top Rookie Title

LAS VEGAS (AP) – Winning rookie of the year honors required Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to beat his girlfriend on the track.

At least twice, the on-track battles between Stenhouse and Danica Patrick led to wrecks.

Stenhouse acknowledged Thursday that competing against his girlfriend wasn’t always easy – and joked that he learned quickly to always accept blame.

The two-time Nationwide Series champion finished 19th in the Sprint Cup standings. Patrick finished 27th and came to Las Vegas to support Stenhouse as he accepted his award.