Can Hailie Deegan and Toni Breidinger Dethrone Danica Patrick As the Face of Women In NASCAR

On a traditional level, motorsport has been a male-dominated sport. However, there have also been a few women who have competed in racing. For NASCAR in particular, there have been a fair number of women who have raced against men. The first one to do it was Sara Christian at the Charlotte Speedway in 1949. After Christian, the most well-known female driver was Janet Guthrie. She was a pioneer in her craft because she became the first woman to lead a NASCAR race. Since then, female representation has been a bit sporadic, until a certain Danica Patrick made her debut.

Patrick made her debut in the Cup Series in 2012 and quickly became a poster child for women in NASCAR. Granted, her on-track NASCAR results were not much to write home about. When she competed in IndyCar though, she was a bit more successful at her race craft. As a matter of fact, she won the 2008 Indy Japan at the Twin Ring Motegi Circuit. Coming to her NASCAR career, she competed in the Xfinity and Cup Series, but never reached Victory Lane in either division.

Despite her lack of on-track success, Danica Patrick is still well-known

At some point in her NASCAR tenure, Patrick pretty much became one of the more marketable drivers. She also gained a bit of notoriety, particularly for her explosive face-off against Denny Hamlin. Additionally, she also made headlines for her relationship with fellow NASCAR driver, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Finally, she also recorded a number of finishes in the midfield, notching up seven Top 10 finishes each in the Xfinity and Cup Series.

To be frank, when she entered the stock car scene, there was much hype about her. A lot of things worked in her favor, as her IndyCar exploits proved that she was fast on the track. In short, she was the NASCAR marketing team’s dream project, and they relished the opportunity to work with her. Sadly, the results just never came.

READ MORE: Days After Hailie Deegan Discarded Her Truck Team, Xfinity Move Proves Costly for Ford as Fans Predict Unanticipated Chevy Comeback

After Patrick’s retirement, other women are stepping up to the plate

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Patrick’s NASCAR career ran from 2010 all the way until 2018, which includes the Xfinity and Cup Series. She has since retired from racing and taken up other ventures, which are either commentary gigs or non-racing businesses. On the bright side, all that PR was good enough to inspire many young girls to take an interest in motor racing. Among the current crop of female racing drivers are Jennifer Jo Cobb, Jessica Friesen and Michele Abbate.

However, the most prominent ones are Truck Series drivers Toni Breidinger and Hailie Deegan. Breidinger and Deegan are the only ones who are racing on a regular basis, so they could be the new Danica Patrick.

How good is Hailie Deegan as a racing driver?

One advantage that Deegan has is that she comes from a rich racing background. To be precise, her father is none other than motocross rider and racing driver, Brian Deegan. Naturally, she wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps, but not too closely. She boasts of experience on dirt bikes from as early as seven years old. Since then, she has been competing at different motorsport levels and eventually wound up on the ARCA Series grid.

During her K&N Pro Series and ARCA Series career, she really burst onto the scene. As a matter of fact, she took three wins in the K&N Pro Series West. Meanwhile, she put in a consistent run in the ARCA Series in 2020 for DGR Crossley, with a best finish of 2nd. It wasn’t long before she finally got her big break in the Truck Series in 2020 and had a best finish of 7th in the following year. Since then, she has been going from strength to strength and notched up four more Top 10 finishes.

Toni Breidinger is another rising star in the NASCAR scene

Now, there is another female driver whose star is steadily rising. This happens to be none other than 24-year-old Toni Breidinger. She and her twin sister began racing at the age of nine, and her career took off from there. It is worth mentioning that she applied for the newly formed W-Series and progressed as far as the Top 50, along with Natalie Decker. She also has a side gig as a Victoria’s Secret model.

Breidinger is currently competing in the ARCA Menards Series and has recorded impressive finishes. However, she has yet to reach Victory Lane this season. So far, her best finish was a fine third place in the 2023 ARCA Series race at the Kansas Speedway. She even earned a few appearances in the NASCAR Truck Series with Tricon Garage. Driving for the organization, Breidinger has recorded a best finish of 15th at Kansas in her three starts.

Can Deegan and Breidinger really become the next Danica Patrick?

Without a doubt, Deegan is highly talented and it won’t be long before she reaches Victory Lane. Admittedly, she has rubbed a few competitors the wrong way, but so did Patrick in her day.

Coming to Breidinger, she is fairly popular because of her soft-spoken personality and her on-track prowess. Fans will be delighted to know that she is already planning out her 2024 season. She told The Spun, “I’m really trying to work out all of next year’s plans right now. A lot of is dependent on how I wrap up this season. I would definitely like to run more Truck Series and more ARCA Series. We’ll see where it takes me.”

Fortunately, Toni Breidinger and Hailie Deegan are still young. So their careers in the NASCAR arena are just beginning, and they have room to improve. Hence, one thing is for sure, whatever legacy that Danica Patrick left behind will be safe in the hands of the current generation.

WATCH THIS STORY: Hailie Deegan Speaks Out Against Car-Wrecking in SRX Series