It was recently announced that NASCAR Sprint Cup rookie drivers Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. were a couple.

While workplace romances have been going on for as long as there have been workplaces, this particular high octane power couple marks somewhat of new territory for both sports writers and sports fans.

If the early media coverage of the power couple is any indication, this is either the greatest thing to happen to racing since cars were first made to go fast, or it is the beginning of the end of racing as we know it like some sort of Danicky Apocalypse where the only thing left standing will be a few campers in the infield that were protected from the onslaught by a well-timed trip to the porta-potty.

I can see it now, the reporters will gather in the media center and comment about how the Mayan calendar end of world talk was nothing compared to the coming terror that is Danicky.

(Editor’s Note: At the time of this writing, I have not heard what the power couple’s nickname is. If history has taught us anything, it is that every power couple has to have a cute little nickname combining their names a la Branjelina, Benifer, etc. etc. So, with the field wide open on naming rights for the Danica/Ricky romance I maintain, and have hence forth noted, that they will be known as Danicky. Remember kids, you heard it here first.)

Let us examine both sides of the media coin since we all know there can be no middle ground in this 24-hour news cycle world where if it bleeds it leads and sex sells.

The sportswriters and gossip columnists will have a field day with tracking the comings and goings of this historic coupling among racing rivals.

Aside from the built in star power that comes with “the Brand” known as Danica Patrick, there is the realization that this is the first time that two athletes of the opposite sex who compete against each other regularly are openly dating.

To be fair, NASCAR is the only major sport at the moment that has drivers of both sexes competing. So, the odds were stacked more in its favor to be the first sport to have this occur.

The worlds of women’s professional soccer and basketball, have had same sex relationships between athletes, with some of them playing on different teams creating a scenario where they could face off against each other.

However, the relationship between Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. represents the first time that a couple will compete against each other every single week of the season.

While Danica Patrick is by far the more recognizable member of Danicky, the “icky” part is no slouch in racing circles. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. won consecutive Nationwide Titles prior to making the jump to the Sprint Cup.

So, “icky” has the racing trophies to back up his street cred. Of course, Danica has her one Indy Racing League win and lots and lots of Super Bowl commercials and other interests away from the track giving her the more famous body of work.

So how exactly did Danicky come to be?

Early indications of the newly minted power couple show that they were friends for years before making the leap to coupledom.  They also didn’t let a little thing like Danica still be married get in the way of announcing the happy news.

Remember boys and girls this is not your granddaddy’s NASCAR.  The Danicky pairing follows a slightly less covered event of a certain car owner marrying one of his drivers a few years back.

And there are many other examples of love at the track where people have been hooking up in the garage area and the pits for years. The previous pairings just normally involved a driver marrying his publicist, or one of the women who hold the trophy and smile in victory lane.

Aside from the obvious issues of whether the romantic link off the track will lead to on track cooperation, let us first in good faith get all of the potential jokes out of the system.

Danica herself stated in an Associated Press story when she confirmed the rumor that had been rampant for months that she was enjoying all of the jokes about bump drafting. While bump drafting is all fine and good let us not forget the other age-old adage in NASCAR that “rubbin is racing.”

Of course, one needs to remember to pull those belts tight prior to dropping the green flag.  There is also the little issue of who will stand at which car during the National Anthem. It is customary for the drivers and their significant others to stand together and give a little good luck kiss before climbing into their cars.

Depending on how close the two drivers qualify in the running order, a pre-race kiss may be hard to manage.

And will it be a shared motor home, or separate motor home on racing weekends?

Maybe the sportswriters were right and this is the Danicky Apocalypse with so little time to answer all of these questions before the start of the Daytona 500.

But alas. I digress.

When all the facts are weighed, I tend to be in the camp that the racing will still be the same on the track as it would be with two teammates helping each other out.

Both sides of the Danicky coin are too competitive to have it any other way.

Plus, there is that whole issue of keeping sponsors happy and so forth.

So, while two drivers dating is something the sport has not seen at this level before, it is surely not the beginning of the end of the sport as some have predicted.

It does create the interesting question of who will do the driving when they aren’t on the track though.  Something tells me it will involve a lot of games of Ro-Sham-Bo.

I can see it now, Danicky needs to go somewhere and as they approach the car and one of them says, “Well, I guess we’ll have to Ro-Sam-Bo for it” and then the winner takes a victory lap while doing doughnuts and burn outs down the driveway before they head to the store.

And boys and girls, that is how it’s done in this strange new world of competitors in the same professional sport league dating each other.

Now if you will excuse me, I need to go see a man about a trademarking Danicky, otherwise all of these shirts and hats I had made will surely go to waste.

Copyright 2013 R. Anderson