ARCA Menards Series fan favorite and Venturini Motorsports driver Toni Breidinger stepped out of the car at Watkins Glen, giving the reigns to crew chief Cayden Lapcevich to finish the General Tire 100.
The San Francisco native revealed a few days ago “been a tough few weeks recovering, excited to take on the Glen Friday!” on her X page.
been a tough few weeks recovering, excited to take on the Glen Friday! pic.twitter.com/M1FSreIMpP
— Toni Breidinger (@ToniBreidinger) September 12, 2024
Later she made a post on race day revealing more.
“Race day at The Glen. Recovering from this injury is no joke, and I’m feeling pretty terrible. I’ll take the green flag and attempt to finish the race. I’m confident my backup driver/ crew chief
@CaydenLapcevich will represent us well if needed.
Grateful for the support of my partners
@BoozyJerky
@SunocoRacing
@raisingcanes
@CelsiusOfficial”
Race day at The Glen. Recovering from this injury is no joke, and I'm feeling pretty terrible. I'll take the green flag and attempt to finish the race. I'm confident my backup driver/ crew chief @CaydenLapcevich will represent us well if needed.
Grateful for the support of my… pic.twitter.com/8etu9EKZqB
— Toni Breidinger (@ToniBreidinger) September 13, 2024
Just past the halfway break, the team made the call for the driver swap.
“Yeah. I just got an injury. That’s one of the toughest decisions I’ve had to make. That was awful. I told them, ‘Cayden decide. You’ll have to do it yourself,’ and that was honestly the hardest decision I’ve ever made. Never thought I’d have to pull myself out of a race but I know Cayden will finish it off well.”
While sitting out, Breidinger confirmed she’s planning to be in the car next week at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bush’s Beans 200.
“I just did this keeping long term in mind. I don’t want to really mess up my foot to where I am out the rest of the season. So just trying to keep all that in mind.”
Lapcevich is the 2016 NASCAR Pinty’s Series champion at just 16 years old with six wins under his belt in the series. This race marked his first laps behind the wheel of an ARCA Menards Series car and managed to come home in 17th, one lap down in the race.
