Toni Breidinger takes big hit into wall after wreck with Lawless Alan at IRP

Cautions breed cautions, and Toni Breidinger was, unfortunately, the example of that tonight. She took a big hit into the wall at IRP. The ARCA Menards Series race is heating up, and Breidinger’s day is going to be more or less over.

Today was a strong day for Toni Breidinger up until about 40 laps to go. She took minor damage in an incident involving others on the track. She had been fighting all day to get into the top-5.

Restarting with less than 30 laps to go, Breidinger had issues again. Soon enough Lawless Alan was in the back of the 25 car and Breidinger was in the wall.

A great battle between @WilliamSawalich and @ConnorZilisch comes to an abrupt halt for an incident involving @ToniBreidinger, @lawlessalan25 and Jackson McLerran.

📺 @FS1 pic.twitter.com/uRXDs8x7NZ

— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) July 19, 2024

Today, Toni Breidinger battled with Gio Ruggiero for most of the afternoon. It was one of the more impressive showings that Breidinger has had in the ARCA Menards Series. Slowly, she was moving up, until she took that minor damage prior to her big wreck.

IRP is a tough track. This is a short track that brings out all of the physicality and difficulty you expect from a small action track. For Toni, this is going to hurt her in points. She was starting to recover from a shaky start to the season and now will have to go back to the drawing board.

Connor Zilisch and William Sawalich have been throwing haymakers at each other. They have developed quite the rivalry in the ARCA Menards Series East championship battle. Both are still 17 years old and have a lot to prove.

Of course, they are two of the brightest young prospects in NASCAR. When they race against each other, it’s usually must-see TV.

Toni Breidinger takes hit in points, Zilisch and Sawalich trade lead

Toni Breidinger entered today’s race fourth in the ARCA Menards Series points. She was just over 50 points outside of the leader, Andres Perez. None of the full-time drivers in the national series has a victory yet this season.

Drivers like Zilisch and Sawalich, part-timers, but frequent ones, have taken up all of the wins. It has been a tough go for the full-time drivers. Zilisch is on another level entirely when it comes to this series.

For a driver mostly seen as a road course racer at the beginning of the season, Zilisch has proven that theory incorrect. He has put up wins on ovals in ARCA, ARCA East, CARS Tour, and is just as good or better than his peers.

Even though Sawalich has led laps tonight, Zilisch has been even better. Pinnacle Racing Group has been on fire this season.