Toni Breidinger: Pink carpets and pit roads
For many, being a professional race car driver has them busy enough. Toni Breidinger isn’t like most drivers. Between driving a heavy ARCA schedule, part-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts, and her modeling career with Victoria’s Secret, Breidinger has a full schedule.
This week, Toni Breidinger is set to race at Kansas Speedway in the ARCA Menards Series. Practice, qualifying, and the race all go down on Friday. However, leading up to the race, Breidinger displayed her multi-faceted career perfectly.
“Yesterday I was on the pink carpet with Victoria’s Secret and today I’m serving fans in my favorite restaurant – this is an absolute dream come true,” Breidinger said as she did an event at a Kansas City Raising Cane’s.
She wasn’t exaggerating, either.
From the Victoria’s Secret show on the pink carpet to serving chicken tenders at Raising Cane’s and then racing on the 1.5-mile track at Kansas – it’s all about chasing the dream. I spoke with Breidinger ahead of the weekend about Kansas, Cane’s, and more.
Returning to Kansas with lessons learned
With her Victoria’s Secret business behind her, Toni Brediginer is fully focused on Kansas Speedway and the task at hand. In her career, Breidinger has an average finish of 11.5 at Kansas with two top-10 finishes to her name.
Between ARCA, the Truck Series, and even starts in the Toyota GR Cup there have been plenty of races for her in 2023.
“I’m looking forward to being back [at Kansas] this time around I feel like we’re going to keep building off the momentum we’ve had this season and kind of what I learned earlier in the year,” the driver explained. “It should be good, I’ve got Raising Cane’s on the car, I’m real excited.”
So, what is the goal for the weekend? With two top-10 finishes, Toni Bredidinger is hoping to score a top-5 result. She has two this season, the first of her ARCA career, from Berlin and Iowa.
“Yeah, 100% I feel like last year my goal was top-10s and now this year I’m like, okay, I have to be top-5. So I feel like I’m leveling up a little bit. Definitely, now I feel like if I’m in the top-10 not the top-5 I’m like, okay we’re off here. So, I feel like I changed my standard a little bit. The goal for tomorrow is to definitely run in the top-5 for sure.”
These mile-and-a-halfs are not the easiest tracks for many young drivers. They are big, fast, and can be daunting. Breidinger has worked hard on honing her craft there and on other tracks.
Toni Breidinger ‘struggled’ at 1.5-mile tracks
Over the course of her career, Toni Breidinger has not always been great at the 1.5-mile tracks. They are intense races. However, in the last two years or so, her improvement on these tracks cannot be overlooked, even she is taking notice of it.
Kansas, Charlotte, even the large track that is Pocono, those intermediates have given her trouble. Now, they are almost her strength.
“I’ve got a lot more comfortable with them this year,” Breidinger said of the tracks. “Pocono was by far my worst race last year and I started off a million times better this year. I think the fact that I showed up a little bit better kind of gives me more confidence. Like, ‘okay I used to hate this track, [now] we weren’t too bad here,’ so yeah. It’s funny how I feel like those have been my better results because last year I feel like I had such a mental block with them.”
As a Toyota driver, Breidinger has also been involved in the GR Cup. A low-budget touring car series that Toyota sponsors. These cars help develop skills in racers like Breidinger, road courses, street courses, and more.
Given the direction NASCAR has been going, that experience will be invaluable for her racing career. Road courses are an important aspect of stock car racing. Like her work on the 1.5-mile tracks, her road course work shouldn’t be overlooked, either.
“I felt like after doing these races, if I were to go to like a Mid-Ohio or a Watkins Glen whenever the ARCA cars and trucks go to those, I feel like I would be able to show up a lot more confident,” Breidinger explained.
Toni Breidinger coming to a pink carpet, and a pit road, near you.