I know you’ve heard by now but yes Frankie Muniz the actor famous for the hit show Malcolm in the Middle, and the movie Agent Cody Banks is now a successful racecar driver. Yes, you read that right this man at the young age of thirty-seven is pursuing his dream of racing cars and I’m here for it personally as a fan.
Frankie Muniz The Racecar Driver
I saw someone within the industry report back in January stating that Frankie Muniz was able to get behind the wheel of a car at a test session in Daytona. Initially, I thought oh cool, another celebrity possibly looking into ownership. Or even some sort of media exposure for the sport. Either way, I was hopeful. However when I saw the official announcement he was going to be racing full-time. I was shocked and extremely interested to see how it went.
Frankie started his full-time racing journey this season in the ARCA series, which is one of the branches of the developmental tree in NASCAR. So, they race fewer races being a developmental series, they’ve only raced three races so far this season, but he hasn’t been performing horribly. What I love though is he was recently quoted in a GQ article saying that it isn’t a hobby and even that he wants to try and race in the Daytona 500 in two years’ time. This man has a passion for racing.
Race On Frankie
Frankie went into Daytona for the opening race of the season on a mission it seemed. He was able to lay down a sixteenth-place qualifying effort. Then in the race, he took his number thirty Ford to the front and stayed there most of the race before coming home eleventh. Then he went to Phoenix and was able to secure a sixth-place finish. Along with those results, this man has been laying down some fast qualifying times, and practice laps showing he’s more than just a “celebrity.”
I know he didn’t “earn” his spot some may say however his pure love for the sport of racing has to mean something right? Those aspirations of running the Daytona 500 alone showed me Frankie Muniz was serious about all of this, but he took it a step further this past weekend at Talladega. After starting the race from the ninth position he was able to stay trouble-free and navigate the high banks of Talladega to a top-ten finish. That performance, gave him the series points lead headed to Kansas on May the 6th.
I’ve been following this sport since I was a little kid and even went as far as to explain why a few months ago. If Frankie can come in and compete and not just be another name in the field he can actually keep this up, then who knows we could see the man behind the wheel of one of the stock cars instead of the pace car.
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