Toni Breidinger gets back to basics, embraces her femininity in NASCAR

Going by the numbers, no driver across NASCAR’s top three national touring circuits is as popular as Toni Breidinger.

The 27-year-old who was the first Arab-American woman to compete in the top level of stockcar racing has more than 5.8 million combined followers across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X and YouTube.

After being the only woman to race full-time in NASCAR last season, fans haven’t heard much from her on the track this year. Due to her part-time schedule with Rackley W.A.R., Breidinger hasn’t gotten behind the wheel of the No. 27 Chevrolet in the Craftsman Truck Series since the May 15 race at Dover — the race that wound up being Kyle Busch’s last win before his shocking death.

But Breidinger has quietly been working on her racecraft. She’s getting back to her roots this year and returned to racing late-models, winning a competition at the historic Hickory Motor Speedway on July 11. Days later, she was in New York City, stunting on the red carpet at the ESPYs — a display of how she’s able to successfully balance her on-track aspirations with her modeling career.

This weekend, Breidinger returns to NASCAR when the Truck Series races at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg, Indiana on Friday, July 24 at 8 p.m. ET. In the TSport 200, Breidinger will drive the No. 27 Chevrolet splashed with a Celsius paint scheme.

Between her last race and this upcoming one, Breidinger also starred in a new campaign for Kristin Ess Hair — the K-Turn, for their 12-in-1 leave-in primer. It’s not a product that most drivers in the male-dominated NASCAR can say they’ve used, but Breidinger can, giving her a pathway to unique partnerships the sport hasn’t seen before.

“It’s definitely special to get their support. There’s this new wave of partners coming in and supporting female drivers. It just makes so much sense,” Breidinger told USA TODAY Sports. “I think it’s brands that we truly align with and use, like, for me on race day, everyone’s asking, ‘How does your hair look like that when you’re racing in the heat?’ And I’m like, it’s these products. They’re partners that other drivers aren’t exactly able to work with in an authentic way.

“I’ve always really loved to tap into my femininity, so it’s cool to be able to do that on the racetrack now, just blend my two worlds together, and it’s really authentic to me.”

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