Danica Patrick to Co-Host 2013 US Country Awards

NASCAR star, Danica Patrick will be co-hosting the upcoming 2013 American Country Awards, according to FOX News.

Patrick will be sharing the stage at the event with country singer Trace Adkins this coming December 10. FOX reported that Patrick will be in good hands with co-host Adkins because the latter has overseen the show for the past four years. Last year, Adkins was on stage with Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth.

The show will air live on Fox from the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas. Patrick says she's become a fan of country music since she joined the NASCAR circuit, and she's appeared in videos with Miranda Lambert and Colt Ford. Adkins' new album of Celtic-infused Christmas carols, "The King's Gift," comes out Oct. 29.

On Sunday, Patrick watched through her windshield as the Chase for the Spirit Cup rolled off without her on Sunday at the Chicagoland Speedway. Patrick concedes that she has much work to do before she will be ready to try and chase down the most successful drivers in the series.

"I think that realistically, not necessarily for the Chase in particular, but I think to really understand the car and feel comfortable in the car and be able to start to have some more established expectation levels, I think it takes at least three years to get to that point," said Patrick, who finished 20th Sunday in a race delayed by more than five hours because of rain. "And some people say five years."

Crew chief Tony Gibson agreed that "three to four years" is generally required to hone a driver capable of making a Chase berth a goal.