Getty Toni Breidinger at Raising Cane's grand opening in Daytona.
Toni Breidinger had a good car and ran inside the top 7 through most of the July 19 ARCA race at Indianapolis Raceway Park and appeared to be destined for a good finish. However, it all changed with 28 laps remaining when NASCAR Truck Series regular Lawless Alan drove up the track into the side of the No. 25 car, sending her into the wall and ending her day.
At the July 23 grand opening of a Raising Cane’s in Daytona Beach, Florida in the shadows of Daytona International Speedway, Breidinger addressed what happened with Alan, who has developed a reputation for running into another well-known female driver, Hailie Deegan.
@ToniBreidinger talks about her race at IRP and how one particular driver, who has a reputation for wrecking women, did it to her and ended a solid day and chance at a top 5.
“I got a little bit of a bad restart so I do kind of take accountability for putting myself in that position,” she admitted. “Shouldn’t really have been next to the 33 in the first place because I kind of know that he drives like that typically.
“So I honestly wasn’t all that surprised and more frustrated with myself than mad at him. So it’s like, I don’t know, kind of expected something like that and I kind of put myself in that position by getting a bad restart. But yeah, I’ve definitely seen this stuff with him and Hailie.
“I’ve seen it. I’ve witnessed it. Just like looking at him drive like in other series. So, I feel like I’ve been able to look at it in an unbiased way but yeah, it happens. I mean, it’s hard racing, but yeah, I do feel like it’s a little bit of a theme with him.”
Toni Breidinger Discusses Hailie Deegan Losing Ride
In addition to discussing Deegan’s history with Alan in the trucks, Breidinger addressed the recent news of her fellow female counterpart losing her ride at AM Racing in the Xfinity Series.
“Yeah, it’s disappointing because I’ve been like there’s three of us girls running a full season in NASCAR and now it’s two of us,” Breidinger said. “Hopefully Hailie gets her ride back. But yeah, kind of disappointing. I hate to see that. So pretty bummed for her.”
The 25-year-old also talked about driving for Toyota Racing and its driver development program, which is where Deegan raced before switching over to Ford — a decision Kevin Harvick said on his July 16 “Happy Hour” podcast was the biggest mistake in Deegan’s career.
“Yeah, it’s been amazing working with Toyota,” Breidinger said. “They definitely really care about developing their drivers. And I feel like they have a great kind of system that they have in place to help us develop on the racing end but also the physical aspect of things, like off the track, too. So yeah they have a really great program for us, and I don’t think I would be where I am as a driver without them, for sure.”
Breidinger Talks About Plans for 2025
Through the first 10 races in the 2024 ARCA campaign, Breidinger has recorded a solid six top-10 finishes. There has been some speculation about her future after she ran in the season-opening Truck Series race at Daytona. Will she be returning to ARCA full-time or running in the trucks in 2025?
had a blast meeting everyone today at Daytona @raisingcanes! thank you all for waiting in the heat! loved meeting every single one of you 🫶
“Everything’s kind of coming together for next year,” she acknowledged. “We have some exciting stuff that we’re announcing in the next few weeks. So, yeah, I feel like everything’s kind of aligning so I’m excited.”
What exactly that exciting news is she wouldn’t reveal. But her fans, including her 2.7 million followers on Instagram know the most important detail and that is she will be racing in 2025.