As a part-time NASCAR Truck Series driver and a regular face in the ARCA Menards circle, Toni Breidinger’s recent outing behind the wheel did not go as planned. The 25-year-old’s recent appearance at Indianapolis Raceway Park was cut short after an on-track run-in with Lawless Alan brought out the red flag during the Circle City 200.
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The ARCA Menards series event saw Breidinger run inside the top ten when an attempted overtake by the Truck Series regular saw him get loose while the #25 car driven by Breidinger was on his outside. Alan went up to hit the left rear of the #25 entry, spinning it into the wall and ending her day.
Big ARCA trouble at IRP! Here's what brought out the red flag. pic.twitter.com/eOzrUjL4gK
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) July 19, 2024
Despite being on the receiving end of someone else’s mistake, the female driver was seen as her usually composed self during post-race interviews.
“Don’t really know what exactly happened with the wreck but I just got a bad restart and put myself in a spot I shouldn’t have been. It’s kind of my fault at the end of the day.” Briedinger told Frontstretch
Former NASCAR Cup Series driver and 9-time Xfinity Series winner Kenny Wallace reacted to Friday’s incident at IRP between Breidinger and Alan and gave his opinion on how female drivers are not taken as seriously in what is a male-dominated sport.
“It gets exhausting, watching the guys wreck the girls @TonyBreidinger gave him PLENTY of room” -Wallace opined on X (formerly Twitter)
Wallace’s opinion seemingly opened the community’s floodgates towards support for the San Fransisco, California native. Several fans came out and spoke in her favor. “She can drive the wheels off a car. Women don’t get a fair shake” wrote one fan. Another opined “And fans say the girls are the ones lacking talent and don’t belong. Pathetic.”
Very classy of @ToniBreidinger. She could have said a lot of things, but seems like she's blaming herself instead (which she shouldn't). @raisingcanes #ARCAMenards pic.twitter.com/nZnfKshSYo
— JJ (@TomcatNASCAR_2) July 19, 2024
There was also an underlying notion of how respect in NASCAR and the motorsports genre, in general, has decreased over the years. A fan spoke his mind on the same and wrote “Respect just doesn’t exist in Motorsport anymore Kenny” whereas another chimed in with words of appreciation for Breidinger “She’s in the top ten and keeps grinding. It’s becoming ridiculous now. Don’t let this get you down, kid.”
Driving the #25 Toyota fielded by Venturini Motorsports, Toni Breidinger has six top-10 finishes to her name this season. However, she has also seen three DNFs this year as well, courtesy of involvement in various wrecks throughout the year, neither of which were seemingly instigated by herself.
With ten races to go in the 2024 ARCA Menards season, it remains to be seen how well can Breidinger jump back from her DNF in Indianapolis this weekend. The junior stock car racing series resumes operations at Salem Speedway with the Salem ARCA 200 scheduled to go live on Saturday, 27 July, 2024.
