Malcolm In The Middle star Frankie Muniz has said “this is just the beginning” after he crashed on his debut in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series racing event.
Muniz finished 33rd out of 38 racers after getting caught up in a multi-car crash, known as a “wreck”, on the 37th lap of the 120-lap United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway in Florida on Monday.
The 38-year-old, who was driving for Joey Gase Racing, reached as high as 13th place at one point before finishing early due to the crash.
Nascar’s Xfinity Series posted on social media that Muniz had been “evaluated and released from the infield care centre” following the collision.
There is no suggestion he was injured and Muniz didn’t mention experiencing any pain in an interview with NASCAR news site Frontstretch after the race.
He told the site: “(The crash) was unfortunate because we were trying to be cautious.
“Unfortunately we’re done early… we didn’t do anything wrong I just got caught up.”
Muniz added: “I was hoping my Xfinity debut would be better than this… I know I’ve got a long way to go, this is just the beginning.”
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Frankie Muniz during qualifying for the race. Pic: Reuters
The Xfinity Series is NASCAR’s second-tier circuit after the motorsport’s top-level Cup Series.
Muniz, who played the central character in the hit US comedy Malcolm In The Middle between 2000 and 2006, competed in the entry-level ARCA Series in 2023.
Speaking about the step up to the Xfinity Series before the race, Muniz said: “I’m excited to prove to people that I can race in this series… Everybody out there is good. I don’t want to call it self-doubt. It has nothing to do with that. I just have to prove it to myself as soon as we get on track. Hopefully we can do that.”
Muniz now splits his time between the race track and the big screen – and is set to appear in the upcoming futuristic thriller movie Renner.
