NASCAR Superstar Toni Breidinger Races Into SI Swimsuit Issue

NASCAR superstar stock car racer and model Toni Breidinger has made her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue debut. She posed for photographer by Ben Horton at The Boca Raton in Florida, wearing a swimsuit from LATITID.

“I actually remember when I first ever got in a go-kart—it’s so vivid—the pedals, the seat. I remember my heart was racing. Once I got in the go-kart, [I was] immediately hooked,” Breidinger told Ananya Panchal of Sports Illustrated during her photo shoot.

A native of San Francisco, Breidinger has notched 27 top-10 finishes, made the podium at the ARCA Menards Series and finished in fourth place last season. She began modeling for Victoria’s Secret in 2022.

This year, Breidinger has leveled up even more, vaulting her way to a full-time role with the third-tier NASCAR Truck Series via Tricon Garage. Per Panchal, Breidinger has already been breaking barriers in her short career, having now become the first Arab-American woman to compete in any NASCAR national series event.

She has yet to finish among the top 10 in an event, but it’s early yet. Her best finish thus far in a NASCAR event is 15th, which she nabbed during her ’23 NASCAR debut at Kansas Speedway.

“Before the green flag came out, I was like, ‘Wait, this is so sick. I’m here and I’m doing this,'” she recalls. “That was the most present I’ve ever been in a race.” For the first time, she even caught herself smiling behind the wheel—”which doesn’t really happen”—a sign, she says, that her mindset paid off. “I feel like it reflected in the results.”

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Breidinger has pivoted towards celebrating the next generation of female drivers. With her car engineer twin sister, Annie, in tow, Breidinger recently cohosted the International Women’s Day Go-Kart Mentorship Event at Phoenix Kart Racing Association. At the event, 13 young female drivers gathered together to celebrate “a day of mentorship, karting sessions and inspiration,” according to Panchal.

“When I’m at the track, I’m not really thinking like, ‘Oh, I’m surrounded by guys’—but I am,” Breidinger reflected on her status as a female trailblazer in motor sports. “Now that I’ve kind of grown older, I realize that I’m doing something that’s kind of different.”

Breidinger took to her personal Instagram, where she has 2.6 million followers and counting, thanks to her stints in the worlds of fashion and racing, to celebrate the official release of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

“2025 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue is finally out!!” Breidinger wrote.

The moment marks yet another exciting first in a fascinating two-pronged career that in many ways feels like it’s just getting started.

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