Hollywood actor turned NASCAR driver Frankie Muniz recollects a disturbing coincidence from the 2001 Daytona 500 involving Dale Sr.’s tragic death  

Frankie Muniz will use the same Rette Jones Racing chassis Sterling Marlin used in the 2001 Daytona 500 in his rookie ARCA season.

Hollywood actor turned NASCAR driver Frankie Muniz recollects a disturbing coincidence from the 2001 Daytona 500 involving Dale Sr.’s tragic death  

Dale Earnhardt (Credits: NASCAR) and Frankie Muniz (Credits: Reuters)

Frankie Muniz, still renowned for playing Malcolm in Fox’s Malcolm in the Middle, is making headways in NASCAR as the former Hollywood Child superstar is set to race full-time in the 2023 ARCA Mendes series. This is the first full-time Stock Racing gig Muniz hasn’t raced in the series. He will drive the No:30 Ford for Rette Jones Racing and is hoping for a solid start to his NASCAR career.

Muniz is no stranger to racing, in 2008, he put his acting career on hold to pursue a career in racing after some solid runs in the Toyota VIP racing series. He drove full-time in the Atlantic championship, but his career never really took off, and he had a similar fate waiting for him in Hollywood. A stock car racing debut in the SRL Pro Late Model series two years ago sparked his love for speed again, and he is now chasing the dream.

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Stepping into NASCAR, Frankie Muniz has some disturbing memory he recollects from his first public NASCAR appearance. He was the Pace car driver in the 2001 Daytona 500, where Dale Earnhardt tragically died in a multicar crash. A 16-year Muniz got his M&M jacket signed by Dale Sr. he also got an autograph from Sterling Marlin. During the race, Muniz and their family spend time in Ken Schrader’s pit. All three of these drivers were part of the deadly crash, and only two survived.

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“I’m not going to lie, (the weight of the connections and history to the Daytona 500) did [sink in]It was the other day that I saw it on Twitter that someone put that video there and I put two and two together and I called my mom. My mom was here at the race in 2001 and we actually were in Ken Schrader’s pit, I was wearing M&M’s jacket. The fact I was in the pace car with the 40 car. Sterling Marlin signed that jacket, Dale Earnhardt signed that jacket,” Muniz said.

“There are three cars that I was tied to that day, and those three cars at the end of the Daytona 500 in 2001 were involved in that in that accident that changed the sport tremendously. When I thought about all that, I called my mom, and I told her the story of how I’m driving that car. It was a really weird feeling,” Muniz added.

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The memories of that day help Frankie Muniz to connect to NASCAR

Frankie Muniz
Frankie Muniz

Frankie Muniz revealed that his memories of the incident helped him connect to the sport. It makes him feel like he is in a place where he is supposed to be, and he points out that having interesting memories dating back 22 years is special.

“The memories of that day sunk in and impacted me a little bit, but in that sense, I know what it means for me to have this opportunity and I feel like all those connections make me feel like I’m in the place I’m supposed to be. The fact that I can look back 22 years ago and have some interesting tie to the car that I’m driving today is pretty special for sure,” says Frankie Muniz.

He also revealed the wholesome conversation he had with Dale Jr. before he got into the car for the race. Muniz said, “I was on pit road when Dale was getting into his car. He came up to me, and he stopped me. He said, ‘you know your show has brought my daughter and me so much closer together. I love your show.’ It was insane to me that Earnhardt was telling me that,”.

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