Frankie Muniz probably envisioned a very different weekend for himself, especially now that he’s back in the Hollywood spotlight. The revival of ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ had just been released, and it should have been on a high. Instead, just a few hours later, he ended up entangled in a serious incident no one expected: a severe crash in a NASCAR race that took him out of the competition and straight into the news for all the wrong reasons.
Frankie Muniz’s NASCAR Crash: What Happened?
Frankie Muniz, 40, is currently living his racing dream full time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. According to Entertainment Weekly , the Hollywood actor was at Bristol Motor Speedway behind the wheel of a Malcolm in the Middle graphic-wrapped Ford F-150, which sounds like a pretty good way to celebrate the return of television. Then, halfway through the race, things got messy. Muniz was caught in a pileup with Tyler Reif and Timmy Hill. That was it for his night. His truck was wrecked, raced and had a DNF tag next to his name.However, the good news is that Muniz walked away without injury.“Honestly, I thought we were doing pretty well. I felt pretty fast,” Muniz told Fox Sports after the race. He seemed to be in a strong position, the “lucky dog” as they say, when things fell apart with about ten laps to go in the stage.And the drama didn’t stop at the crash. After the race, Reif and Muniz got into a heated argument. Muniz held back, clearly upset with how things had turned out.According to Muniz, Reif got impatient and cut him off while trying to make a pass. From there, both trucks went into the wall, and Hill, unluckily, was also caught.“I think so [Reif] maybe he got impatient. I don’t know…I’m struggling. I belong to that racetrack as much as he does, as much as the leaders. And I won’t back down on that. I haven’t seen any replays, but from what I felt, I went to the middle of the track. I didn’t go all the way down to show that I was going back to the bottom. And the next thing I know, I’m wrecking a truck,” Muniz said.He added: “He was yelling at me inside there, saying I’m a rider, like I shouldn’t be racing. I’m in the lucky dog position. I’m in the fight. I’m on that track as much as him, as much as the leaders.”He insisted he deserved to be out competing, “I’m not going to go back on that. I haven’t seen any replays, but from what I felt, I went to the middle of the track. I didn’t go the whole way to show that I was going to go back to the bottom.”When a reporter pointed out how wild it was for Malcolm’s truck to crash on the same day the show returned, Muniz didn’t miss a beat. “Hopefully it’s TV time, you know what I mean?” He laughed, hoping people would tune in to the restart after all the drama of the race.
More on Frankie Muniz and ‘Malcom in the Middle’
Frankie Muniz is best known in Hollywood as Malcolm, the child genius of the chaotic and relatable family comedy that ran from 2000 to 2006. That show gained momentum, spread the awards and left a definitive mark on television comedy. But Muniz left Hollywood after a while. Instead, racing became his world, and he spent years pushing himself to the track, not for fame, just to win. In fact, according to EW, Muniz insists that the race is the real deal for him. He’s dealt with a lot of setbacks: injuries, bad races, everything. However, he keeps coming back for his love of speed.As for ‘Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair’, a revival of the previous show, it dropped just days before the crash. The show Malcolm as an adult, tries to make family life his own way. But of course, his old family chaos sucks him in again for his parents’ 40th anniversary. Most of the original cast is back: Bryan Cranston, Jane Kaczmarek, the entire cast, recreating that unpredictable sensitive dynamic.‘Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair’ is available on Hulu and Disney+.
