Danica Patrick's affinity for country music has grown recently. Not only will she be co-hosting the American Country Awards with Trace Adkins in December, but Patrick is also starring in a just released music video by country music rapper Colt Ford.
In the video released Wednesday for Ford's "Drivin' Around Song," Patrick is a mischievous small-town girl who unabashedly flirts with a mechanic, not so coincidently played by her real-life boyfriend, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
And bored with waiting for her vehicle to get repaired, Patrick decides to steal the keys to Stenhouse's all-terrain golf cart and goes for a joyride with Ford.
The video was shot six weeks ago in Mooresville, N.C.
"It was a lot of fun to do," Patrick said Friday at Kansas Speedway. "It was a beautiful day in Mooresville that day and those are the fun things that you get to do outside of the car. So, I enjoyed that. That was good fun.
"And obviously, I had a pretty hot mechanic working on the car."
Patrick attributes her embrace of country music and lifestyle to Stenhouse, who is frequently seen wearing a cowboy hat and is a big fan of country music. The two publicly acknowledged they were dating in January and since have posted numerous photos of themselves attending rodeos and country music concerts on social media.
An admitted fan of rap, this isn't the first time Patrick has starred in a music video. In 2006, she and Dale Earnhardt Jr. played prominent roles in the Jay Z video for "Show Me What You Got," in which they raced sports cars around Monaco in a homage to the James Bond film "GoldenEye."
This time, however, she got to co-star with her beau.
"That was not acting," Patrick said about her scene where she flirts with Stenhouse. "When I look at him I smile, so that was not hard."
More from SB Nation:
• Complete coverage of the 2013 Sprint Cup Chase
• Teenage Good Samaritan headed to Daytona 500
• NASCAR power rankings: Gulf widens at the top
• NASCAR Nationwide driver punished for gay slur
• Longform: The good times and hard life of Dick Trickle