DAYTONA BEACH — For much of his life, Frankie Muniz’s job has been to convey authenticity to an audience while playing a part.
Yet, with enthusiasm, passion and knowledge dripping from his words on Friday, it’s difficult to believe that his new career in NASCAR is an act at all.
After announcing Wednesday that he had signed to a full-season ride in the ARCA Menards Series with Rette Jones Racing, Muniz was on hand for testing at Daytona International Speedway on Friday. Morning rain postponed activity on the track and Muniz, a former Golden Globe and Emmy nominee while starring in the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle (2000-2006), was still fulfilling media obligations when cars began ripping around the track around 12:30 p.m.
For a moment, he was reduced to mere fandom again.
“I can hear them going by,” he grinned, interrupting his own answer to a question posed about racing.
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In that regard, Muniz is living the dream of so many — a race fan with the means, stature, and opportunity to climb into a stock car and chase glory, as well as a few checkered flags. For Muniz, it’s the mere fact he’s chosen to do so that proves the validity behind Wednesday’s announcement.
“At 37 years old I’m choosing to be here,” Muniz said. “I can do a lot of other things; I’m choosing to be here. This is where I want to be.”
And it’s where he’s wanted to be for a long time.
‘I was one of the last people to talk to Dale Earnhardt.’
Muniz asked for a moment of composure as his jaw clinched and his eyes reddened.
Like all of us old enough to have been alive during the Intimidator’s reign as the sport’s most famous dignitary, Muniz has a Dale Earnhardt story.
As could be expected, his is a little different than most.
“I was one of the last people to talk to Dale Earnhardt,” he began.
The emotions that came flooding back, however, were very much the same as he gathered himself and told the tale of his February 18, 2001. It started with driving the pace car, a dream fulfilled, and included meeting drivers and getting autographs prerace. It ended, as it did for all race fans, in disbelief.
“I remember driving the pace car, it was a Pontiac Aztek and I remember thinking it was going to flip over on the banking it was so top heavy,” Muniz began. “I was on the spotter’s stand for the last 10 laps of the race and I had Kenny Schrader’s in-car radio. We were watching the finish, every Daytona race is pretty intense, and you see the crash happen but everyone is cheering and the race is over and you think everything is going to be fine.
“We were staying at the Hilton across the street and I ran upstairs. I was a big (Los Angeles) Clippers fan and they were playing on TV and at the time, they were very rarely on national television. My mom stayed downstairs with (former President and General Manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway) Humpy Wheeler and some of the track owners and the news broke in the middle of the game. And it was Mike Helton. And I immediately started crying and I ran down the stairs.
“No one knew because they were at the bar. I came down, 15 years old, running and screaming that Dale Earnhardt died and you could hear a pin drop. No one knew.
“It was the most somber moment of my life. I remember flying out the next day and the airplane taking off right over here and the empty racetrack below and everything was silent as we took off. It’s a memory I’ll remember my whole life.”
An ARCA rookie among ARCA rookies
Nearly all of Muniz’s racing experience has been in open-wheel cars, mostly during a three-year stint in the Champ Car Atlantic Series (2007-2009. While he took part in ARCA testing at Daytona last year as well, his only stock-car race came in the SRL Pro Late Model Series in 2021.
That certainly made Friday’s session even more important. And as Muniz admitted, more pressure-packed.
“I do feel more pressure than I would normally feel in this circumstance because I know there’s a lot of eyes on me today,” Muniz said. “But I don’t want to let that distract me from my plan, from what we have planned to do and what we need to do. But I also know I don’t want to be last. I need to go fast.”
In getting there, Muniz fully admitted a learning curve was to be expected, adding, “I don’t expect to win right away, but I’d love to.” The challenge is likely to be even stiffer in an era of limited practice time, though Muniz said a racing simulator was set to arrive early next week.
And while the task seems daunting, in that sense, the ARCA Series may be the perfect place for Muniz to land. While older than most of his competitors, Muniz pointed to most of the playing field being the same, however, in terms of experience.
“There’s 60 drivers here for this test, probably 35-40 of them will be in their first race in February and I would say probably 90% of the field has never been here, so they’re in the same boat that I’m in right now,” he said. “They might have more experience on ovals, might have more experience in the ARCA car, but they probably have the same jitters I do, and I try to remind myself of that.”
Skepticism, inspiration and the pressure therein
In a press release on Wednesday, Muniz said he hoped his return to racing would someday prove a point to his toddler son that it’s never to late to chase dreams and aspirations.
However, in the days since the announcement, Muniz said that message has landed far beyond his own family.
He expected skepticism. Instead, there’s been appreciation.
“The internet is a negative place,” Muniz said. “For the most part, people go online to say negative things. I expected that. And I was really surprised by how positive the reaction has been. I was really surprised by how many people have wrote me to tell me how much I was inspiring them to follow their dreams and that’s a pretty cool thing.
“It’s not why I’m doing it, but the fact that it does and it can, that’s pretty cool.”
But it’s something Muniz said he can’t dwell on too much. For his own sake.
“If I’m not competitive, maybe that inspiration dies,” he said with a laugh. “No pressure.”
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