Toni Breidinger Sees Growth With Toyota Racing Development

Toni Breidinger, driver of the No. 1 Victoria's Secret Toyota, waves to fans as she walks onstage ... [+] during driver intros prior to the Nascar Craftsman Truck Series Heart of America 200 at Kansas Speedway. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Toni Breidinger is not a full-time Nascar driver, but at 23, she’s already one of the sport’s most popular faces.

Breidinger is a rising social media star, showcasing her life as a young woman attempting to make it in the male-dominated sport. She gives a behind-the-scenes look at everything from her off-track training to working with sponsors like Victoria’s Secret and Hot Wheels to her actual race day experiences.

“I’ve been racing for so long, and I feel like people think I just popped up out of nowhere,” Breidinger said. “I’ve been racing since I was 9 and I don’t have an ulterior motive to use racing to get famous or to get followers. I’ve been racing since I was really young. Having a following is great and it does help with branding and sponsorships.

“It’s really fun to bring new fans to the sport, but it’s definitely not the reason why I race. I didn’t have any family that was in racing previously. I had to figure out things along the way and meet as many people in the sport as I could along the way. It’s been difficult to navigate everything.”

By the time Breidinger was 18 years old, she had transitioned to the ARCA Menards Series with Venturini Motorsports. She’s been there ever since.

Right off the bat, she finished in the top 10 in her series debut at Madison International Speedway. But with limited sponsorship, the Californian didn’t race often. She only competed in three events that season and didn’t race again in Nascar’s version of Single-A until 2021.

That’s when Breidenger’s career began to take off. She was widely promoted as the first female Arab-American driver to compete in a Nascar national series race. She had new sponsors in the Free People Movement, Hairclub, Huda Beauty and Triller. She initially signed a deal with Young's Motorsports two years ago, but rejoined Venturini Motorsports.

“It shows that there have been certain sponsors that have been in the sport for a really long time, but there aren’t as many sponsors that break into the sport,” Breidenger said. “It’s cool to reach a different demographic where brands want to work with me and be on the car and support me.”

Now, Breidinger is a budding star for Toyota Racing Development. She’s even been featured in some of the manufacturer’s commercials.

She competed full time for Venturini last year, earning six top 10s in her first full season. This year, she’s competed in 10 of 13 races, earning her first two top-five finishes. Since mid-June, the Toyota driver has earned five straight top 10s.

“Working with Toyota has been great,” Breidinger said. “They have great development teams like Venturini Motorsports, which I have learned a lot from, and a great truck program. They’ve been great on and off the track. They have a great training facility that we all go to, which helps us prepare for race day. There’s a lot of work that goes into it behind the scenes that a lot of people don’t realize. They have a great program for us from nutrition to training to mental health and the simulator.”

In addition to the ARCA schedule, Breidinger worked diligently to secure Victoria’s Secret sponsorship for a handful of Craftsman Truck Series events. She’s already made two starts with Victoria’ Secret backing her, in addition to a third race with HomeSmiles as her sponsor.

She finished 15th in her series debut at Kansas Speedway in May and has a pair of top 20s in the three starts.

Now, Breidinger hopes to have more Truck Series starts planned for next year as Toyota recognizes her talent.

“In a perfect world, I would follow the ladder system,” Breidinger said. “You don’t have to exactly follow it because I think everyone’s path is a little bit different. I definitely want to go to the Truck Series, accomplish something there and show some progress to where I feel like I can move up to the next level of Xfinity and compete for top 10s, top fives and wins.

“I’m taking my time as much as possible, while pushing myself to get the best results. I don’t have an exact timeline. In a perfect case, you move up every couple of years when you feel like you’re ready. Everyone’s path is different.”

Currently, Breidinger sits eighth in ARCA points despite not attempting three of the races.