CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – It’s been a few seasons since Danica Patrick has been in an IndyCar but she continues to have tremendous admiration for one of her former competitors – Scott Dixon.

Patrick is starting her third season in NASCAR’s premier division – the Cup Series – and she drives for another former IndyCar series driver, Tony Stewart. Patrick used to be one of the faces in the IndyCar Series after her spectacular rookie drive in the 2005 Indianapolis 500 when she became the first female driver ever to lead laps in the “World’s Biggest Race.” She was in the lead with seven laps to go before eventual winner, the late Dan Wheldon, passed her to take the lead. Patrick would finish fourth driving for team owners Bobby Rahal and David Letterman.

It was the start of what was known as “Danica Mania” and was a colorful time in the history of the series. She would go on to become the first female driver ever to win an IndyCar race when she drove to victory at Twin Ring Motegi in 2008 driving for Andretti Autosport.

She finished third in the 200? Indy 500 and that remains the highest finish by a female driver in that race and finished her IndyCar career in 2011 with one victory, three poles and seven podium finishes in 115 starts.

During her career she had tremendous respect for Dixon, a three-time IndyCar Series champion and 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner.

“Scott Dixon is a great driver and always has been,” Patrick said. “He is another driver I’ve been lucky enough to have raced against and beaten on occasion. He is really cool and calm and has accomplished a lot of really amazing things. He is a little soft-spoken and doesn’t cause a lot of controversy so that question makes people think that maybe he has been overlooked in some way but I for sure have thought about him a lot, many times.

“I never overlook Scott Dixon but he is quiet so maybe some people do.”

Dixon earned a lot of attention and respect last month when he drove fearlessly and flawlessly in the Rolex 24 at Daytona to drive team owner Chip Ganassi’s Ford ECO Boost car to the overall victory. His co-drivers included 2004 IndyCar Series champion and 2013 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan, 2010 Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 winner Jamie McMurray and impressive NASCAR rising star Kyle Larson.

Patrick was not surprised with Dixon’s recent success but she also enjoyed the time she got to know the driver and his wife, Emma, in the Driver Motorhome Lot when she was an IndyCar Series competitor.

Rivals on the race track but friends afterwards, is the way Patrick viewed her relationship with Dixon and his family.

“Emma is fricking adorable so how do you not love Emma?” Patrick asked. “She is just pretty to look at.”

Patrick is beginning her fourth season at Stewart Haas Racing and heads to the Daytona 500 where she won the pole in 2013. She became the first female driver to lead laps in NASCAR’s big race and was running third at the white flag before being shuffled back to an eighth-place finish.

In Patrick’s 82 NASCAR Cup Series starts the former IndyCar driver has no wins and has never finished in the top five but has four top-10 finishes. Her best finish was sixth at Atlanta Motor Speedway on August 31, 2014.