Frankie Muniz Shows Out At Daytona

What’s Happening?

One of the biggest questions heading into the 2023 ARCA Menards Series season was: How will Frankie Muniz do? The actor-turned-racer caught the racing bug back in 2004 when he won a celebrity open wheel race. Back then he had his eyes on INDYCAR but later fell in love with stock car racing, in recent years making running the full schedule in ARCA one of his primary goals, a goal he plans to achieve in 2023.

You Need To Know:

• Racing at the World Center of Racing has been a dream of Frankie Muniz for nearly two decades.
• Muniz was fastest in ARCA practice on Friday and qualified in the 16th position for the race on Saturday, a promising start for sure.
• While some plans questioned Muniz’s racing abilities as he transitioned from Hollywood star to professional racecar driver, he also has earned a lot of support. Many of his most staunch supporters were fans of his hit-sitcom in the early 2000s Malcum in the Middle, in which he played the titular character.

Muniz was sure to impress the fans today with his mastery of car control as he avoided not one but two potentially big crashes. He was able to work his way up as high as fifth before getting caught up in a bottle neck incident which caused some light damage to the nose of his No. 30 car. After a pitstop and falling to the rear of the filed, Muniz was able to work his way up, avoid another potential crash, and bring it home in 11th place.

Main Character

Frankie Muniz scored the starring role today as he wheeled the No. 30 Ford around the Daytona International Speedway like a pro. Following his qualifying attempt on Friday, he took to Twitter to address his mild disappointment:

Before the race today, he also took to Twitter to amp up his fan base:

Following the race, Noah Lewis catches up with the actor-turned movie star:

Muniz also took to Twitter to comment on his impressive showing at Daytona with his loyal fans:

In The Stands

Predicably, Muniz’s debut sparked a lot of fan interest online. Everyone was curious to see how he’d do, including Liberty Thomas who listened into the No. 30 team’s radio. Apparently Muniz had some words for the driver of the No. 4 machine.

Bill warns the rest of the full-timers in ARCA to watch out for Frankie Muniz this season, complementing his driving:

Muniz cracks the top ten in Andre’s Tweet below:

It has always been Muniz’s dream to run at the World Center of Racing!

From The Press Box

The Comeback on Twitter tweeted a close call Muniz had as he avoided a potential disaster:

Steven Taranto of CBS Sports caught Minuz’s comments to the media immediately following the race:

On Your Screen

Eric Estepp from Out of the Groove enjoyed that Muniz did well:

While he came up just shy of a top-10, Muniz impressed today. It will be interesting to see where he ends up in the deck by season’s end.