Danica Patrick is single again after breakup with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

It’s going to be a year of transition for Danica Patrick in her professional life, and now in her personal life as well.

If Danica Patrick wasn’t dealing with enough change for 2018 since she won’t be back in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series full time, she’ll be navigating some changes away from the track as well.

A spokesperson for Patrick told ESPN’s Bob Pockrass that Patrick is no longer dating Ricky Stenhouse Jr., confirming speculation that the two drivers had broken up after a relationship of nearly five years. The normally inseparable couple wasn’t in evidence at the recent NASCAR awards, to which Stenhouse showed up solo.

The ESPN piece doesn’t say it in so many words, but it definitely leads one to wonder whether different life goals may have been the issue. Patrick wants kids but has said she wants to be married first; she was previously married to Paul Hospenthal for seven years.

It also couldn’t have been easy for two very competitive people (including competing against each other) to have careers headed in different directions. Stenhouse returns to the NASCAR Cup Series fray in 2018 on the heels of his best season yet, one that saw him win multiple races and earn a playoff berth.

Patrick, on the other hand, was unceremoniously dropped from the Stewart-Haas Racing lineup, and while she announced a plan to run the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500 before retiring from racing, she so far hasn’t been able to line up rides for either race. Or at least nothing has been announced yet.

Next: Kurt Busch, Monster Energy back with Stewart-Haas Racing for 2018

In any case, it will be different not seeing the two of them together, especially if Stenhouse makes it to Victory Lane again. Change is in the wind for Patrick in all aspects of her life, but we have a feeling she’ll be just fine.