Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #17 Ford EcoBoost Ford, walks through the garage area during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 8, 2017 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo – Chris Graythen/Getty Images

When Danica Patrick pressed the button on Twitter last Saturday to announce her engagement to boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse Jr., social media blew up with the news—until word got out it was an April Fool’s joke. Stenhouse was in on the prank, but he had forgotten about it.

“I was out in the woods working after Martinsville practice, and she says, ‘Hey, it’s April Fool’s—I want to send something out,’” Stenhouse told reporters on Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway. “She said, ‘I’ve got this idea. Are you in?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I guess so. Let’s do it.’

“Then I was on the phone talking to somebody for 30 or 40 minutes, and my phone kept going off, and I wasn’t sure why it kept going off, and I forgot she had sent that out. Then I realized real quick what it was all about.”

Stenhouse said the joke hadn’t increased the urgency to make a bona fide proposal.

“I wouldn’t say there’s a ton of pressure, but I get it from fans a lot,” he said.