Toni Breidinger may be facing growing pains on track, but her impact off it is reshaping the business of modern NASCAR, as she continues to climb through the ranks in the racing arena. Breidinger’s motorsport journey began at a tender age of 9 when she first handled a go-kart, eventually hoisting the 2016 USAC Western US Asphalt Midget Series championship at just 17. That early grit led her to North Carolina upon high school graduation, and her perseverance continued as she battled for ARCA Top-5 finishes, ending fourth in the 2024 standings. Those formative years in gritty regional circuits prepared her with a competitive edge and a fierce drive needed to reach the higher series.
This year, Breidinger secured a full-time seat in the Truck Series with Tricon Garage’s #5 Toyota, a significant step as the only woman racing a full NASCAR national series championship this season and the first Arab-American to do so. Her debut at Kansas in 2023 yielded a solid 15th-place finish, and since then, she has steadily built her skills, but consistency has been an issue for her as she has found herself at the tail end of the pack for most of 2025.
Despite early promise, including an 18th-place finish at Rockingham, Breidinger faced a turbulent season, with only two Top-20 finishes and a recent slip to 30th at Nashville. She has been candid about the steep learning curve, noting after her Michigan Truck race, “After every race, I’m like wow, I feel like a new driver because I’ve learned so much. So, yeah, almost the unknown of I didn’t know how much new stuff I was going to learn. In so many different areas, from the tracks and the truck and the aero. Yeah, I’ve been learning a lot, and I’m like, I can’t believe I’ve been learning this much.” But despite no significant boost in her performance, Brideinger has been attracting sponsorship to fuel her drive in the Truck Series.
She is already aligned with Raising Cane’s, Victoria’s Secret, Coach, 818 Tequila, Sunoco, Celsius, Gatorade, and even earned a coveted spot in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, becoming the first current NASCAR driver featured in it. Her next headline-grab has been with Dave & Buster’s, as the brand has stepped up as the 25-year-old driver’s newest high-profile sponsor, adding a restaurant-and-entertainment powerhouse to her roster.
Many platforms note the way she merges racing with lifestyle, using social platforms and polished partnerships to build a compelling personal brand. Her ability to fuse fashion, entertainment, and motorsports is rewriting the partnership playbooks in NASCAR. Her on-track struggles, especially in slower weeks, haven’t prevented her from making national headlines and driving business interest. As fans on Reddit have mixed opinions about this development, many admire her unique branding ability and tenacity, even while questioning her speed. In a sport where performance and persona collide, Breidinger remains a lightning rod for debate, and her rising sponsor count only amplifies the buzz.
Fans pour in mixed reactions as Breidinger’s sponsorship profile grows
“Kudos to Breidinger for brining more high profile sponsors to the sport,” one fan supported Breidinger’s off-court endeavors, despite the driver getting enough hate on her recent track performances. The full-time rookie Truck Series driver has truly transformed the sport’s partnership landscape. For instance, Raising Cane’s itself tapped her for major marketing campaigns, including a “Speed Campaign” at Kansas City, where she worked a pre-race shift and helped launch a $100,00 mentorship initiative for young female racers.
She, therefore, joined the likes of other female drivers, including Katherine Legge, who made her return to NASCAR this season, securing a major sponsorship with e.l.f. Cosmetics to complete in multiple Cup and Xfinity events and Hailie Deegan, who partnered with AdventHealth during Women’s History Month, featuring a special paint scheme that honored female professionals throughout the sport. One fan also supported Breidinger, saying, “Say what you want about her on track results – But she is bringing in some companies that you would probably never see to NASCAR. Good for her.”
The support and appreciation kept pouring in as soon as the collaboration with Dave &Buster’s was announced, as another fan wrote, “You know Toni may not be the best driver, but hardly anybody can market like she does,” which, indeed, is already evident by the amount of sponsorships that she has brought in since her debut in NASCAR. She has 2.5 million followers on Instagram, 45.9 K followers on X, and 180 K followers on Facebook. Now, those are substantial numbers, and the way she engages with the fans makes her a top candidate in the eyes of corporate partners. If anything, she is paving the way for young drivers to attract sponsorship in the modern era of racing.
Meanwhile, social media analytics firm Zoomph also ranked her as NASCAR’s top social personality in 2024, proving that even amid track growth, Breidinger’s media savvy keeps her firmly in the spotlight. But other than that, fans also praised her personality, having face-to-face personal interactions, as one fan recalled, “That’s awesome. Love Toni’s personality (Saw her at Lime Rock a million times and she even asked me about how my Pocono trip was) but she has no business being outpaced by Reaume Brothers Racing every week. A new D&B opened up in my local mall last month, and I really like it. Hopefully they will offer Toni shirts as ticket prizes.”
Breidinger’s trucks have often been outpaced by Reaume Brother Racing, which, despite limited resources, fields three full-time trucks and is slowly carving out competitive consistency, especially with #33 full-time driver-turned-actor Frankie Muniz. Therefore, comparisons are bound to arise, while some believe that they are unjustified. “It’s infinitely funny to me that everyone sh— on Toni for being bad but glaze the hell out of Frankie despite this being both their first full-time rookie season and both running relatively similar results. This coming from a Frankie flair, I love them both because I love rooting for rookies, but lets have a little consistency here,” wrote another fan.
For instance, Frankie opened with a strong 11th place at Daytona but has since only notched one more Top-10 and endured several DNFs, including tire blowouts and crashes at Texas and Nashville, and since then, he’s struggled to cope with the demands of racing. Meanwhile, Breidinger’s inconsistent results often draw far harsher scrutiny, prompting fans to call for fairness and consistency in how female performances are evaluated. But in the end, it is hard work that matters, and Breidinger has shown plenty of it. With more races to follow, Breidinger is sure to tread on the path of consistency with a little more support and help from her teammates.
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