Frankie Muniz is making a name for himself in racing.
He drives full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as of this year for the Reaume Brothers Racing team in 2025, sitting behind the wheel of the number 33 truck. Muniz was formerly a full-time driver in the ARCA Menards Series last year, where he racked up 11 finishes in the top-10, and even had one finish in the top-5.
Of course, you probably recognize him as Malcolm from the sitcom Malcolm In The Middle, which aired from 2000 to 2006 and went for seven seasons. During his teen years, he also starred in films like Big Fat Liar (one of my personal favorites), Deuces Wild, Agent Cody Banks and Racing Stripes.
He was actually a pretty well-known actor then, but obviously, he’s embarked on a much different career path now, and recently finished in 10th place at Daytona in the Truck series this past weekend:
Frankie Muniz, Hollywood actor who starred in ‘Malcolm In The Middle’, is now a professional Stock Car Racing driver
He finished in 10th place at Daytona. Incredible pic.twitter.com/NNtEZBIAsE
— Dudes Posting Their W’s (@DudespostingWs) February 16, 2025
For someone just starting out at this level, it’s pretty impressive… but there’s another story getting a lot of views online right now, which is when a young Frankie met The Intimidator, Dale Earnhardt, on February 18th 2001, the same day he tragically passed away during a race at Daytona International Speedway.
Today is the anniversary of that awful and sad day in racing history, and there have been plenty of tributes on social media honoring the legend that we all love so much:
A young Frankie actually met Dale Sr. on the day he died while at the race, and vintage footage that first went viral on TikTok shows him talking to his idol before the race. I’m not sure exactly what this was for, but it cuts in and out of their conversation to Franke talking about the moment, saying how nervous he was… Dale even told him he watched Malcolm In The Middle and loved it:
“Dale Earnhardt was right in front of me, he’s a legend. Seven Winston Cup Championships, I was actually a little nervous to meet him, but he was really nice. He was really cool, he was like, ‘Oh, I love your show.’ And I was like ‘Oh, thanks.’ And I told him good luck.”
It’s a wild full-circle moment to look back, and must’ve had a big impact on a young Frankie seeing where his career is today and knowing how that race would ultimately end so tragically.
It would be really cool to hear him talk about it now, so maybe someone can bring it up to him at the next Truck Series race because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime, really cool video and moment I’m sure he never forgot. He was just a larger-than-life man, and this video almost doesn’t even seem real.
Check it out:
The post After Top 10 Finish In The NASCAR Truck Series, Old Clip Of Frankie Muniz Meeting Dale Earnhardt (The Tragic Day That He Died) Goes Viral first appeared on Whiskey Riff.Frankie Muniz met Dale Earnhardt Sr in 2001 on the tragic day he died at the Daytona 500.
Now years later racing at Daytona, finishing 10th in Daytona himself comes full circle https://t.co/sNaE6gsDej pic.twitter.com/mTZDzynxbL
— Dudes Posting Their W’s (@DudespostingWs) February 17, 2025