Frankie Muniz probably pictured a very different weekend for himself, especially now that he’s in the Hollywood limelight once again. The ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ revival had just premiered, and he should’ve been riding high. Instead, just a handful of hours later, he ended up tangled in a rash incident nobody expected: a hard crash at a NASCAR race that yanked him out of competition and straight into the news for all the wrong reasons.
Frankie Muniz’s NASCAR crash: What happened?
Frankie Muniz, 40, these days, is living his racing dream full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Per Entertainment Weekly, the Hollywood actor was out at Bristol Motor Speedway, behind the wheel of a Ford F-150 wrapped in Malcolm in the Middle graphics, which seems like a pretty good way to celebrate the TV comeback. Then, mid-race, things got messy. Muniz got caught up in a pileup with Tyler Reif and Timmy Hill. That was it for his night. His truck was battered, his race was done, and he had a DNF tag next to his name.However, the good news is Muniz walked away without any injuries.“I actually thought we were running pretty well. I felt pretty quick,” Muniz said to Fox Sports after the race. He figured he was in a solid position, “the lucky dog,” as they say, when things fell apart with about ten laps left in the stage.And the drama didn’t stop at the crash. After the race, Reif and Muniz got into a heated argument. Muniz stood his ground, clearly annoyed about how things played out.According to Muniz, Reif got impatient and clipped him while trying to make a pass. From there, both trucks went into the wall, and Hill, unlucky, got caught up too.“I think [Reif] just maybe got impatient. I don’t know… I’m fighting. I belong on that racetrack just as much as he does, just as much as the leaders do. And I’m not going to back down on that. I haven’t seen a replay, but based on what I felt, I went to the middle of the track. I didn’t track all the way out to show that I was going to go back to the bottom. And next thing I know, I’m destroying a truck,” Muniz said.He added, “He was yelling at me in there, saying I’m a lapper, like I shouldn’t be racing. I’m in the lucky dog position. I’m fighting. I belong on that racetrack just as much as he does, just as much as the leaders do.”He insisted he deserved to be out there competing, saying, “I’m not going to back down on that. I haven’t seen a replay, but based on what I felt, I went to the middle of the track. I didn’t track all the way out to show that I was going to go back to the bottom.”When a reporter pointed out how wild it was for the Malcolm-themed truck to crash on the same day the show returned, Muniz didn’t miss a beat. “Hopefully it got TV time, you know what I mean?” He laughed, hoping maybe people would tune in to the reboot after all the race drama.
More on Frankie Muniz and ‘Malcom in the Middle’
Frankie Muniz is primarily known as Malcolm in Hollywood, the genius kid from that chaotic, relatable family sitcom that ran from 2000 to 2006. That show took off, rolled out awards, and definitely left its mark on TV comedy. But Muniz veered away from Hollywood after a while. Instead, racing became his world, and he’s spent years pushing himself on the track, not looking for fame, just wanting to win. In fact, per EW, Muniz insists that racing is the real deal for him. He’s dealt with plenty of setbacks: injuries, bad races, all of it. Yet he keeps coming back for the love of speed.As for ‘Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair’, the revival of the previous show, it dropped just days before the crash. The show picks up with Malcolm as an adult now, trying to do family life his way. But of course, his old family chaos sucks him back in for his parents’ 40th anniversary. Most of the original cast is back: Bryan Cranston, Jane Kaczmarek, the whole crew, recreating that unpredictable, heartfelt dynamic.‘Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair’ is available on Hulu and Disney+.
