If you are looking for a new name to follow in NASCAR, then look no further than 24-year-old Toni Breidinger.
Breidinger is set to make history Saturday at Kansas Speedway in the NASCAR Truck Series, becoming the first female Arab driver to do so. She will race for TRICON Garage and drive the No. 1 Victoria’s Secret Toyota Tundra TRD Pro.
“I feel like it’s very important to have representation in the sport,” Breidinger said via Fox News. “To me, it’s really exciting to hopefully be paving the path for the younger girls.”
Although she is excited, Breidinger is upset that this hasn’t happened earlier in the sport.
“I feel excited but, at the same time, I wish I wasn’t the first because I think NASCAR has been around for so long,” Breidinger said. “So, I feel like every time some of us girls are breaking these barriers, all of this stuff I feel like they should have broken a long time ago, it’s kind of like a mixed emotion type of feeling. But I’m really proud to be able to represent the sport.”
Danica Patrick has for years been the only female to regularly race on the NASCAR circuit. A lot of NASCAR truck series drivers end up moving up to the Cup Series and who knows? Breidinger might be the next great NASCAR star.
“It’s so crazy. It’s funny because I joke that I manifested it when I was little because I had this journal. And I used to write that I wanna be a race car driver. And I also wrote I want to be a Victoria’s Secret model,” she said. “So, the fact that they both happened, like two worlds colliding, is like so surreal. It’s pretty crazy.”
[Fox News]
About Stacey Mickles
Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.