Toni Breidinger is now the latest in a long line of female NASCAR drivers trying to make her mark. The sport has come a long way from Sara Christian back in 1949, and the most well-known female was Danica Patrick. Since then, there have been others. Racers like Natalie Decker Lemke and Haillie Deegan, and now Breidinger have joined the ranks.

However, a sport like NASCAR operates differently from other racing series. In order to race, drivers need money and sponsors to back them. This isn’t an obstacle that Toni Breidinger has to face as a woman in a male-dominated environment; all drivers go through it. To earn her seat in the Cup Series, she has been doing everything in her power to market herself. Safe to say, she has done a decent job of turning herself into a brand.

On the race track, Breidinger has not exactly been setting the tarmac alight. The 26-year-old has only had two Top 20 finishes this year as her debut full-time season proves to be a challenge. Owing to her less-than-stellar performances, it has added fuel to criticisms that her brand deals and modelling are proving to be distractions.

Toni Breidinger insisted that she is still committed to racing.

She has denied claims that her off-track activities are distracting her. According to the 26-year-old, all her networking has an endgame, which is her racing career. Aside from her duties as a NASCAR Truck Series driver, Breidinger is also a brand ambassador for a variety of major brands. Her sponsorship resume is pretty impressive, with the likes of Coach, Victoria’s Secret, 818 Tequila, Dave & Buster’s, and Raising Cane’s in her corner.

She told Motorsport.com, “When people say that doing brand deals affects my performance, I’m like, ‘No, you know what affects my performance? Not being able to race because I can’t afford it. You need seat time to get better, and you have to pay for it… It sounds toxic, but I’m okay with working 99% of the time right now. It’s a cycle, and I’m still figuring out how to balance it, but I’m at a critical point in my career, so I want to give it 1000% and look back knowing it was worth it.”

Frankly, the economics involved in motorsport is pretty insane, be it NASCAR or any other racing series. For female drivers, who make up just a drop in an ocean of talent, it is infinitely harder. Fortunately for Toni Breidinger, she thinks she has cracked the code, which could not only benefit her but also other female racers. That code is marketing herself to major brands and securing funding, and those brands are eager. Especially since the female sports market is rapidly growing, it would be foolish to let such an opportunity slip.

The Tricon Garage driver explained her marketing strategy.

She continued, “I like leaning into the female-focused brands and products that I use myself, because they’re often things that my male teammates don’t use. I might as well leverage that and build partnerships with brands that are authentic to me and tap into the female demographic. It’s important that all of my deals feel authentic and are really aligned with me. Dave & Buster’s is a place I grew up going to in the Bay Area with my sister. Whenever we had an off weekend from karting, we’d go play games, so this is a nostalgic, full-circle moment. When I did my national campaign with Raising Cane’s last year, it drew a lot of attention from their fans and kind of blended our fan bases.”

In NASCAR, there is almost always the same set of sponsors, with just a few minor additions and subtractions. However, Toni Breidinger is trying to take a brave step and explore new horizons from a sponsorship perspective. As she mentioned, her focus is on brands that cater more towards women. While they have their clientele, it wouldn’t hurt to broaden their reach, even if they have the medium of sport, which is largely male-dominated.