At this point, NASCAR fans might as well just accept the fact that it always comes down to money over talent when those two factors are the only two major factors at play when deciding who gets a ride.
That has never been clearer than it was when championship-contending Truck Series team McAnally-Hilgemann Racing signed Kris Wright, whose performance literally led to the shutdown of Our Motorsports in the Xfinity Series this past season, to run full-time in 2026.
On the opposite end of the frustrating spectrum, that announcement happened just days after it was announced that Nick Sanchez, despite having a deal in place to return to Big Machine Racing for the 2026 Xfinity (O'Reilly Auto Parts) Series season after winning a race and making the playoffs as a rookie in 2025, would not be back.
So we can all sit around and complain about it, but it won't change anything. Still, don't ever let that keep you from sitting around complaining about it, because the bone to pick is very real.
And it might get even more real as the 2026 season nears.
Kaulig Racing shut down their O'Reilly Auto Parts Series program to focus on a new five-truck Truck Series team that they've started in partnership with incoming/returning manufacturer Ram Trucks.
Three of their full-time drivers have been confirmed, with Daniel Dye, Justin Haley, and Brenden Queen all set to compete for the championship, and their have confirmed a "free agent program" for one of their other two trucks, with names such as Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne rumored to return for select races (but nobody officially confirmed just yet).
That still leaves them with one seat to fill, and in addition to the long-rumored Cleetus McFarland, the other big name mentioned has been Toni Breidinger.
With all due respect, I'm not sure how much more "money over talent" it gets than Toni Breidinger.
She landed a full-time Truck Series ride with Tricon Garage during the 2025 season and did not finish a single race inside the top 17, with just two top 20 finishes to speak of.
Corey Heim won 12 races and the championship for the same team. Rookie Gio Ruggiero won a race and recorded six other top four finishes. And Tanner Gray, for as much flak as he gets, still recorded three top five finishes and three other top eight results, putting him in a completely different ZIP code compared to the driver of the No. 5 Toyota Tundra.
But Breidinger is a sponsorship magnet, so it doesn't matter that she has made a mockery of NASCAR's driving standards (which, to be fair, arguably don't exist anymore) on more than one occasion.
this after a near collision on pit road. Toni Breidinger was pulling into the garage area just as Carson Hocevar was leaving his pit stall. https://t.co/hVrJMsEa4m pic.twitter.com/J2uFD1PHSb
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) May 3, 2025
Her 23rd place finish in the Truck Series point standings wasn't even close to any other full-time driver. Spencer Boyd was next closest in 21st, and he had 11 top 20 finishes, with as many in the first two races of the season as Breidinger had all year.
In 2022, she finished sixth in the ARCA Menards Series standings, but you can thank the goofy scoring format, which penalizes drivers for missing races, for that. She didn't finish a single individual race higher than eighth, and yes, she still finished behind a driver who missed four races and therefore was denied the bonus points he would have otherwise scored for "perfect attendance".
In 2023, she actually improved and recorded four top five finishes, but she did not compete full-time. In 2024, she was better than she was in 2022, but again, her fourth place finish in points was boosted by the fact that she ran every race; she didn't record a single top five finish.
Yet here she is, fresh off a last-place season with a championship-winning team, and potentially poised to land with another competitive organization in a seat that could literally go to any one of a number of other far more talented drivers.
And even if she doesn't land with Kaulig Racing, which would require a move away from longtime manufacturer Toyota, it's hard to imagine she won't get picked up elsewhere with the sponsorship she brings to the table. Because the objective reality is that when it comes to a driver like Breidinger, there is the expectation that results don't matter. And they clearly don't.
You know what they say: nice work if you can get it. She is marketable and does bring companies to the sport that would otherwise have nothing to do with it. So don't blame her for the flawed system that rewards the mighty dollar rather than the apparently not-so-mighty concept of knowing how to effectively drive a race car.