KANSAS CITY, Kan: Toni Breidinger made history Saturday night at Kansas Speedway becoming the first Arab American female to compete in a NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race and by all accounts, her first race with TRICON Garage exceeded expectations.
It was a busy day for Breidinger who also introduced a new partner to the sport — Victoria Secret.
Breidinger made her fourth ARCA Menards Series start of the season for Venturini Motorsports and finished a competitive 11th. After rehydrating between races, Breidinger, the winningest female driver in United States Auto Club (USAC) history took the green flag in the Truck Series race from a modest 24th place position.
The intensity of Truck Series racing saw her No. 1 Victoria Secret Toyota Tundra Pro dip down in the running order in the early laps of the race but throughout Stage 1 and Stage 2, she continued to make progress with her lap times and pace – including recovering after losing a lap on the track and a pit road penalty for speeding.
By Stage 3, Breidinger settled in and found a comfortable pace where she dodged spinning trucks and a long green flag run to move inside the top 20. With her best laps posted nearing the end of the race, she picked up three more positions in the final laps of the race to earn a respectable 15th-place finish and the third truck one lap down at the checkered flag.
She was third best truck of the TRICON brigade, three spots better than Tanner Gray and 17 positions higher than Dean Thompson who was collected in a Lap 78 accident not of his making.
After the race, Breidinger was pleased with her performance but positively overwhelmed with the number of things she learned throughout the 134-lap race.
“There was so much to take away,” Breidinger said. “There was so much thrown on me that I haven’t got to experience before – just the aero and being in dirty air. I feel like you experience that in ARCA, but in Trucks it’s amplified a million times.
“That was a whole new experience. I feel like everyone is really good out here. I could feel everyone side-drafting me. Nobody gives an inch. There’s a massive learning curve, but I finished a clean race and it was pretty solid (result) in my Victoria’s Secret Tundra.”
Breidinger, 23, credited her teammates Corey Heim, Tanner Gray and Thompson for the advice pre-race that allowed her to make major strides in the eighth Truck Series race of the season.
“I bugged all of my teammates. I texted Tanner (Gray), I was bugging Corey (Heim). I was talking to Dean (Thompson) all day. I definitely asked them as many questions as possible.
“Everyone just says drive the heck out of it. The harder you drive, the better the truck will feel. I feel like I took that away from them.”
Breidinger has not announced any further races with the Mooresville, N.C.-based Truck Series team, but she is expected to race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway on May 26 for Venturini Motorsports in the ARCA Menards Series.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01 or email: [email protected].
