Toni Breidinger is ready to take the 'next step'

Next season, Toni Breidinger is moving up to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. With support from Toyota and Tricon Garage, she’s ready for the next step. Breidinger takes over the No. 5 Toyota Tundra in 2025 and has high hopes, but realistic expectations.

The 2024 season in the ARCA Menards Series did not produce a win. For the most part, the usually dominant Venturini Motorsports entries lacked speed compared to Rev Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Pinnacle Racing Group.

Toni Breidinger has impressed on and off the track, though. Her social media following is the largest in the sport. She has a national campaign with Raising Cane’s. When she isn’t on the track, Breidinger is appearing in Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit issue and walking the pink carpet with Victoria’s Secret.

But it is her 2025 season that she is looking forward to the most. A full-time NASCAR national series season.

“I’m definitely excited for that next step,” Breidinger told 5 GOATs in a recent interview. “Obviously, there is going to be a learning curve with it but Toyota’s been super supportive, and I’ve been preparing and like, grinding pretty hard during the offseason.”

One of her closest partners in the last few years has been Celsius. The energy drink brand has backed Breidinger in ARCA and the Truck Series.

“Definitely long days, a little bit chaotic, but that’s what Celsius is for, it gets me through it. I’m excited for the offseason and this coming season. I feel like this is a good time for me to prepare and get dialed in and be ready to go when the season starts.”

Always remaining optimistic

Toni Breidinger is almost always optimistic. When you speak with her, it’s never about the bad things going on, it’s about the good. Not how she is messing up but how she is going to improve.

Don’t mistake her optimism for naivety. She knows the challenges ahead.

“I’m definitely expecting the season to be tough, I think there’s going to be a lot of challenges. But I think [one goal] for me is resilience.

“I know I’m going to be facing challenges and I know I’m going to have to adapt to situations very quickly and learn a lot on the fly. So, I think for me, just being resilient, being a sponge, soaking everything up, and hopefully, [I can] get Rookie of the Year at the end of the season.”

Rookie of the Year is a tall task. Tricon Garage will have her in good equipment, though. And she has a previous relationship with the organization, making her limited starts in the Truck Series with the No. 1 team.

Corey Heim has been a friend and mentor of sorts this year. Heim just won six races for Tricon, the most in the series, in 2024. He also spotted for Breidinger in an ARCA race. She hopes that relationship with her teammate will help her in 2025.

“I want to know his thought processes because obviously he’s so good and it seems everything comes to him so naturally,” Breidinger said. “So, I’m always like, ‘Corey, how do you do it?’ But I always bug him with a bunch of questions and he’s been super helpful for me.”

Corey can help Toni on the track. Maybe she can give him some pointers on how to increase his social media followers.

Toni Breidinger the social media star

Over the last few seasons, Toni Breidinger has built a brand for herself. She is not the usual NASCAR driver and it has nothing to do with gender.

Breidinger is young, embraces social media, and attends fashion shows and New York events. She isn’t racing on Sunday and living in a cabin in the woods Monday through Friday.

That isn’t a distraction from racing. It doesn’t take away from her job behind the wheel. It is part of her job.

“Thankfully, I do enjoy doing all the side hustles and traveling and going to different events and working on social media,” Breidinger explained. “But it all ties together and, yeah, it’s interesting when drivers say they want to just focus on racing because I’m like, ‘how are you guys paying your bills?’

“Honestly. Because I wouldn’t be able to race without my partners and I want to do a good job for them on and off the track. So, it’s super important for me to be able to balance all of that.”

Toni Breidinger is doing the work off the track. She has the brand, the sponsors, and a full-time ride. Now she has to show that the work will translate to on the track.

The No. 5 truck finished 20th and 16th in the last two seasons. There is definitely room for improvement if Breidinger can adapt quickly. We will soon see just how far the driver/model/social media personality can take her new team.