It wasn't the weekend she hoped it would be.

Racecar driver Danica Patrick only placed 16th at the IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway on Sunday.

Joking with fans and onlookers before the race, Patrick said she may need to "do something radical with a pit strategy" to get her back in the game.

"If you see me make a pit stop real early, throw something on the track to cause a yellow to help me out," she joked.

However joking she may have been her predictions of an early pit stop weren't long coming true.

Patrick had barely made it around the track 12 times when she was required to pull in.

She pulled her socks up and kept going looking like she may finish 11th but with only two laps to go she was the victim of an unsuccessful overtaking move by racer Takuma Sato.

Patrick heaved on with a bent suspension and broken front wing after the Sato run in and she finished 16th.

"That was a frustrating way to end a tough weekend for the GoDaddy car," she said after the race.

"I had a solid car throughout the race and really thought that I was going to finish in the top 10, but I got caught up with Sato at the end.

"It's hard when you have a good race but the result doesn't show."

Patrick finished 15th in IndyCar's inaugural road racing championship. Halfway through the eight-race oval racing portion of the schedule, she ranks sixth in those standings, and she is 11th in the overall IndyCar Series championship chase.

She is racing full time in the Izod IndyCar Series for powerhouse Andretti Autosport. She's racing part time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports team.