Man, talk about taking me back to my childhood.
One of my favorite shows when I was growing up was Malcolm In The Middle, the sitcom that ran on Fox from 2000 to 2006 starring Frankie Muniz as the genius son of Bryan Cranston.
Muniz is also known for his roles in movies like Big Fat Liar and Agent Cody Banks, but these days his focus has gone from acting to his new career as a NASCAR driver.
The former child star began auto racing way back in 2007, but decided to make another go at it in recent years. In 2023 he competed full-time in NASCAR’s ARCA Menards Series, and last year he made a handful of starts in both the Craftsman Truck Series and the Xfinity Series.
In 2025, Muniz is competing full-time in the Truck Series, driving the #33 truck for Reaume Brothers Racing. And in the season opener at Daytona, he scored his best career finish and first ever top 10 with a 10th place finish.
This past weekend, NASCAR was at Atlanta Motor Speedway, with the Truck Series racing on Saturday. Muniz was unfortunately caught up in a wreck late in the race after running pretty well for much of the day and ended up 26th, but it sounds like he was having a lot of fun out there before he had trouble.
On lap 74, a crash sent Rajah Caruth spinning, collecting several other trucks in the process. NASCAR discovered that the wreck was caused by oil on the track, so they stopped the trucks on the backstretch while they dropped speedy dry and cleaned up the track.
During the red flag, Muniz’s team reminded him to turn off all the electronics in his car to keep his battery from draining before they went back racing. And unfortunately for Muniz that meant he had to turn off his music too.
The actor-turned-NASCAR driver could be heard joking around with his crew on the radio:
“So I have to turn my Creed CD off?”
Bummer.
Muniz then serenaded his team over the radio, breaking out into his own version of Creed’s classic hit “With Arms Wide Open.”
Think he’s enjoying himself out there?
Of course his mood shifted after his crash with 30 to go. In an interview after being checked out in the infield care center, Muniz complained that he’s not getting a lot of respect from his fellow drivers:
“I thought we were running really good. I definitely don’t get respect out there, 100%… I’m obviously upset, because I felt like we were just cruising… I’m hoping to earn respect out there, and I hope with how tight I was racing people and I was fairly clean the entire time, hopefully that will be the case. But until I keep doing it, it’s going to be tough.”
Of course the Craftsman Truck Series isn’t exactly known for its respectful drivers. As a development series with relatively inexperienced drivers, we see a lot of bonehead moves from week to week, so respect is hard to come by in these races.
But I mean, how can you not respect a guy who’s out there singing Creed during a race?
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The post “Malcolm In The Middle” Star Turned NASCAR Driver Frankie Muniz Belts Out Creed In The Middle Of A Race first appeared on Whiskey Riff.