NASCAR's only full-time female driver reveals unusual path to race seat

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The only female NASCAR driver competing full-time in this year's big three series has spoken out about her passage into the sport.

Toni Breidinger is a rookie in this year's Craftsman Truck Series, having raced for years to climb the ladder of racing series, including go-karting against future Formula 1 driver Logan Sargeant.

The two wrecked hard in their early years, with Breidinger breaking her arm, and a successful midget car career followed in her teens once she recovered.

The first Arab-American woman to compete in NASCAR first cut her teeth in the ARCA Racing Series, joining the series full-time in 2022 with impressively consistent results before she stepped up to the NASCAR Truck Series this year.

Breidinger: My parents didn't know about NASCAR

Speaking about her racing career and incredible success as an influencer, Breidinger told People Magazine: "It's a lot about growth on the track. But then off the track, also growing my fan base is really important. I love being able to reach a larger audience and hopefully inspire a larger audience, particularly females."

The 25-year-old continued: "My parents really did not know anything about NASCAR as I was growing up."

She added: "I remember I came to my parents with this document saying, 'This is what I need to do, this is my plan on how I'm going to become a NASCAR driver'. So when I was 17, I told them, 'Once I graduate high school, I'm going off, going to move to North Carolina and try to be a NASCAR driver.'"

In an unnervingly honest admission, she concluded: "Honestly I kind of just winged it, but thankfully it's worked out."

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