Race car driving may be a male dominated industry, but Toni Breidinger, the first female Arab NASCAR driver, is about to shake up the track with a little help from Huda Beauty.
The 21-year-old California native is showing up to the Talledega speedway on Saturday, April 24 with a Huda Beauty-wrapped race car, and a lipstick decal to boot.
While it’s certainly a departure from the typical Home Depot, Budweiser and Monster Energy sponsorships, Breidinger knew that teaming up with Huda Beauty was the perfect match for her debut around the track.
“Huda is really big on breaking barriers and female empowerment — and that’s right up my alley,” Breidinger tells Us Weekly’s Stylish in an exclusive interview.
“Obviously, NASCAR is male dominated and I feel like all the drivers fit into this same kind of norm. I like to be different. I’m going into this race having a lot of pride with Huda Beauty on my car … No matter what anybody thinks about it being girly or whatever — I think I have the coolest sponsor,” she adds.
Being sponsored by the beauty brand, which is run by Huda Kattan, is somewhat of a “perfect fit” for Breidinger, who’s been watching the makeup guru’s tutorial since she was 15 years old.
And years later, she still holds the brand close, wearing #FauxFilter Luminous Matte Foundation when she’s driving. “For race day I can’t do full glam because it’s 160 degrees in the car. But it’s amazing because I’ve been using Huda’s products for a while and they stay on my face the best in the car … It’s a really realistic product for me to use all the time,” she tells Stylish.
One of her other Huda Beauty go-to’s? The Huda Beauty Legit Lashes Mascara. “I’m a lash girl and it’s one of my favorite products — I love that you can do different looks, depending on if you want more length or volume.”
Aside from their shared love of glam, Breidinger and Huda Beauty connect on a deeper level too: they’re both “breaking barriers” and paving the way for others that don’t “feel like they fit into a norm.”
“I never set out to be the first female Arab-American driver in NASCAR, but it’s amazing and it’s exciting to be the first one. The biggest thing for me though is I don’t want to be the last,” the race car driver tells Us.
“So many younger Arab girls have been reaching out to me. And every time I go out on the track, I have them in mind. I want to do well for them so I can pave the way,” she adds.
