In 2025, Toni Breidinger has been racing full-time for TRICON Garage in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and the numbers tell a steady-progress tale. Through the first half of the season, she has started 16 races and sits in the 22nd position in the championship standings with 200 points. Race-by-race results show a mix of mid-pack finishes and a handful of stronger runs, with P28 at Daytona, P24 at Atlanta, several finishes in the low-20s to high-20s, and a couple inside the top-20. Those raw numbers don’t capture the finer arcs, where she has raced with pace and setup looking promising, but results were erased by bad luck or late-race incidents. But if you thought her year was only about the racetrack, you’d be missing half the story.

Breidinger has been touring both the country and the culture circuits, and her social feeds read like a travelog stitched to press opportunities and brand work. Off the track, she has been active on Instagram and X, posting behind-the-scenes shots from shoots, appearances, and races, and has mixed fashion and sport in ways that keep her visible to sponsors. Feature profiles this year, including pieces about her modeling collaborations with Coach, highlight how she leverages modeling gigs to fund and amplify her racing career. TRICON’s schedule also shows the logistical rhythm of a Truck Series campaign, with frequent travels from Daytona to Atlanta to Las Vegas and back east, so her posts about flights, hotel stops, and off-day shoots line up with a packed travel calendar. But a recent travel mishap has caused chaos in the NASCAR community.

From victory lane dreams to an unexpected loss in New York

Breidinger recently posted that she had been a victim of robbery in Ithaca, NY, and has asked the community to be on the lookout. In a direct post on X, she wrote, “Anyone in the Ithaca NY area! My car was broken into last night, and my suitcase was stolen. It’s a custom Tumi suitcase with TB on it. Inside were personal items, including my 818 and Coach suits. If you happen to see a suitcase or my racing stuff that’s being sold on Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, Craigslist, or anywhere else, please send me the link.” It is not just lost luggage, it is irreplaceable racing kit, custom-marked gear, and personal items that matter to her career and identity, and that is what made the theft in Ithaca all the more cutting.

The strapline for Breidinger’s 2025 season isn’t just horsepower; it’s the empowerment and edge, fueled by a landmark partnership with 818 Tequila, the first national sports sponsorship for Kendall Jenner’s award-winning spirits brand. Debuted at Nashville Superspeedway and continuing through the season, the collaboration emblazed Breidinger’s #5 Toyota Tundra, firesuit, and helmet with 818 branding, mirroring the brand’s bold, female-forward ethos. In interviews, the young driver emphasized how 818’s commitment to community and sustainability reflects her own journey in breaking molds within male-dominated industries. Thus, when her suitcase, likely containing that firesuit, vanished, it wasn’t just personal property gone, but a canvas for a trailblazing message turned missing.

On select weekends in 2025, Breidinger’s truck wasn’t just plastered with speed and sponsor decals, but also a runway. Enter Coach, the iconic New York fashion house, which starred as both a creative collaborator and sponsor. Breidinger appeared in Coach’s SoHo Sneaker campaign, and soon after, Coach’s logo adorned her truck during Michigan and Talladega. She described melding fashion and function as a “dream,” and the collaboration signaled her ability to drive culture as much as cars. So, the loss seems even more visceral, breaking away the convergence of her two worlds, the fashion and the finish line.

Sadly, the sport has faced other high-profile theft incidents in the past. In 2017, veteran spotters Chris Lambert and Chris Osborne had essential radio gear, electronics, and personal items stolen from their rental cars in Homestead, Florida, just before Championship Weekend, which threatened their ability to work on the race day. Earlier, Team Xtreme Racing suffered a major loss when their #44 NASCAR Sprint Cup car, along with its trailer and valuable equipment, was stolen from a hotel parking lot near Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2015, forcing driver Travis Kvapil to withdraw from the event. More recently, in a high-value theft, Mike Harmon Racing reported the loss of their vehicle and trailer, laden with a race car, pit box, and tools worth approximately $400,000 from a parking lot in Kingsland, Georgia. While these cases involve crews and teams, they underscore the vulnerability even in professional environments. And this time, Breidinger wasn’t spared either.

Breidinger’s public plea turns this into a crowd-sourced recovery effort, with fans helping to scan local listings, tiplines, and social DMs. For the 26-year-old driver, the race to recover her stolen gear is now as urgent as any checkered flag, and it’s one the entire motorsport community can help her win.

Toni Breidinger balancing brand deals and the drive to compete

Breidinger is the latest in the long line of female NASCAR drivers working to leave their mark. The sport has evolved dramatically since Sara Christian first competed in 1949, producing household names like Danica Patrick, the only woman to win a Daytona 500 pole in 2013. At 26, Breidinger is still in the early chapters of her career, but her full-time debut Truck Series season has been a tough one. Critics have suggested her modeling and brand work might be distractions, yet she remains steadfast in her purpose.

Sponsorships are the lifeblood of any NASCAR career, and Breidinger’s marketing strategy reflects that reality. Alongside racing, she is a brand ambassador for Victoria’s Secret, Dave & Buster’s, and Raising Cane’s. “When people say that doing brand deals affects my performance, I’m like, ‘No, you know what affects my performance? Not being able to race because I can’t afford it.’ You need seat time to get better, and you have to pay for it… It sounds toxic, but I’m okay with working 99% of the time right now. It’s a cycle, and I’m still figuring out how to balance it, but I’m at a critical point in my career, so I want to give it 1000% and look back knowing it was worth it,” she said, responding to critics of her dual gig.

The financial strain is also real, especially for female drivers, who remain underrepresented and often overlooked by sponsors. Breidinger‘s mix of marketability and determination is her way of countering perception bias and ensuring she has the resources to compete. As she put it, “It’s a cycle, and I’m still figuring out how to balance it, but I’m at a critical point in my career, so I want to give it 1000% and look back knowing it was worth it.”