TONI BREIDINGER & HAILIE DEEGAN Prove Social Media Is The New Sponsorship Game

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GRRL! musings…

Synchronistically, TONI and HAILIE discuss what is a major spoke in the GRRL! plan to help all women in motorsports: social media.

Racing is BY FAR the most expensive sport on the planet. You need tens of thousands to get started at the bottom and tens of millions to be competitive at the top. It’s a challenge for all that race, but especially hard for women because women that succeed have been so incredibly rare. Sponsors aren’t going to “take a risk.” But with millions of social media followers, the risk lessens.

Sponsors can get eyeballs even without wins. And that’s our plan: bring more eyeballs to ALL women in motorsports. Float all the boats by informing the non-race-following women of the world about their sisters that are revolutionizing one of the last male-dominated worlds.

January 3, 2026

GRRL! SUMMARY:

TONI BREIDINGER cracked the code when traditional NASCAR paths didn’t work—she built her value through social media instead of just racing talent. After Toyota told her she needed millions to drive for them, she moved to North Carolina, delivered groceries by day, and cold-emailed contacts by night. Her motorsports content started blowing up across platforms, leading to brand deals and ultimately her historic contract as the first Arab-American woman in a NASCAR national series. The twist? Toyota signed her through their marketing department, not their driver development program.
HAILIE DEEGAN blazed this same trail, using social media as her career anchor when manufacturer support shifted. She openly admits she probably wouldn’t have her full-time Truck Series ride without her online presence, because it’s nearly impossible to sell sponsorship when you can’t guarantee TV time. Both drivers discovered that in today’s NASCAR landscape, your follower count might matter more than your lap times when it comes to keeping the lights on and the cars running.
The 2026 season looms as make-or-break time for both women. BREIDINGER needs to close the performance gap to her TRICON Garage teammates and climb from her 23rd points finish to stay relevant, while her next team destination remains uncertain. Meanwhile, DEEGAN stepped away from NASCAR after financial realities hit AM Racing, moving to Indy NXT but keeping the door open for a return if the sponsorship math works out better.