In a sport heavily dominated by men, Toni Breidinger stands out like a fiery arrow of hope. She became the first-ever Arab American woman to debut in a NASCAR national series race back in 2021. Competing full-time in the Craftsman Truck Series now, she may be well on her way to becoming the next best female racer after Danica Patrick. However, the road so far has not been a cakewalk, as Breidinger divulged.

Toni Breidinger sheds light on rocky ventures

“I feel like I’ve had so many failures,” Toni Breidinger said on The Burnouts podcast. “There’s been times where I’ve lost a sponsor right before a race, and I haven’t been able to race, and I was devastated. And then I got like a whole new opportunity after that. So yeah, I’ve definitely had like those moments of like, oh my god, like I lost this partnership. How am I going to race? And it’s like led me to a different partnership that actually made more sense for me.”

From racing go-karts at age 9 to becoming a phenomenon in the ARCA Menards Series, Toni Breidinger has established a lot. But her primary focus is on fetching sponsorship, which is the lifeline for NASCAR racers. The 25-year-old racer boasts 5 million followers combined on both Instagram and TikTok. Additionally, her Facebook followers sit at 180,000, which is more than several NASCAR Cup drivers, and she has more than 44,000 on X. And yet, Breidinger is also not devoid of challenges.

“There’s been times even the past few years where I’m like, I don’t have a partner for this race. How am I going to do? And it’s just like a scramble to make it work. I actually have my hands in everything still. I’m very much kind of a control freak. So, I’m very involved in all the pitches and everything, but I do have a team around me that helps, kind of like in the early stages of reaching out to people, but I’m definitely very involved in anything like concepts and creative ideas and everything like that.”

Toni Breidinger is one of Toyota’s drivers contracted through the manufacturer’s marketing department instead of its driver development program. Her expansive social media following was one thing that caught Toyota’s eye, as Paul Doleshal, group manager, motorsports, Toyota Motor North America, said. She receives all of the benefits the Toyota Performance Center in North Carolina provides competitors in Toyota’s Driver Development Program. That includes physical and media training, medical services, nutrition plans, and sim time.

But her background was far from easy, as Toni Breidinger recalled. “When I first moved to North Carolina, it was a lot of just cold emails, not much success. And with my social media at the time when I first moved to North Carolina, I maybe like I don’t even think I had 10,000 followers. Like to me, I was like, I just want 10,000 followers, like you know, baby steps.” From there, the rest was history.

In 65 ARCA Menards races, Toni Breidinger recorded 27 top-10 finishes, the most top 10s by a female ARCA competitor. Also notable were her four top fives and fourth-place finish in points in 2024.

Even as she continues to grow, Toni Breidinger also remembers the times she thought it was a downturn.

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The courage to be different

“I feel like it’s hard because I’m just being in a male-dominated space, you want to like be respected,” said Toni Breidinger on The Burnouts. “So, I feel like I’ve always been cautious about just like how I present myself. And I was nervous even with Victoria’s Secret at times because some people think that, you know, if you’re more feminine, it makes you like a lesser driver, like they won’t respect you as much.”

Alongside her racing career, Toni Breidinger has pursued a modeling path as well. She has appeared in high-profile modeling campaigns for brands like GAP and Victoria’s Secret. Breidinger also has representation from IMG Models, one of the top agencies in the business. In 2025, she was featured in Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit issue alongside athletes like USA Olympic gold medalist sprinter Gabby Thomas, USA Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles, and Paralympic swimmer Ali Truwit.

Clearly, Toni Breidinger is smashing the walls of stereotypes that racing and modeling cannot go hand-in-hand. As the 2026 season rolls around, let’s wait and see how she tackles the NASCAR schedule.