• News
• /
• Sports

Danica Patrick and her husband Paul Hospenthal have decided to amicably end their marriage after seven years. Through her Facebook page on Tuesday, the NASCAR driver announced that she is seeking a divorce from her husband.

“I am sad to inform my fans that after seven years, Paul and I have decided amicably end our marriage,” she said. “This isn’t easy for either of us, but mutually it has come to this. He has been an important person and friend in my life and that’s how we will remain moving forward.”

The 30-year-old Patrick meet the now 47-year-old Hospenthal, a physical therapist, in 2002 when Patrick had been seeking treatment for a yoga injury to her hip. The two then married in 2005 with Patrick converting to Catholicism to do so.

Since they were married, Hospenthal was Patrick’s partner in life and in business as the most influential and trusted confidante of a small inner circle that manages her coveted brand. The transcendent star said she didn’t make major decisions without consulting her husband, who built a physical therapy business in Scottsdale, Ariz., that catered to high-profile professional athletes.

Aside from racing, Patrick does some acting and modeling work, and is also an advertising spokeswoman, mainly GoDaddy.com. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel racing, she is the only woman to win a race in the IndyCar Series and holds the highest finish (third place) by a woman at the Indianapolis 500. As of 2012 she competes in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and occasionally in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.