ActorFrankie Muniz— star of the TV sitcom “Malcolm in the Middle” — crashed his truck in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, April 11.
Muniz, 40, did not sustain any significant or notable injuries as a result of the crash, according to multiple reports, though he was unable to finish the race.
“I actually thought we were running pretty good. I felt pretty quick,” he told Fox Sports’Bob Pockrassafter Friday’s race. “We were in the lucky dog position, so I was just trying to do some good lap times. I think there was like 10 to go on the stage.”
Muniz’s new show, “Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair,” premiered the very same day. The show, a spinoff of the iconic early 2000s sitcom, features Muniz reprising his classic role.Bryan CranstonandJane Kaczmarekalso return to their roles in the four-episode miniseries.
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Muniz — racing in a “Malcolm in the Middle”-themed F-150 truck — crashed withTyler ReifandTimmy Hillon Turn 3 of the track.
“I think [Reif] maybe got impatient, I don’t know,” Muniz said. “He was yelling at me in there, saying I’m a lapper, like I shouldn’t be racing. I’m in the lucky dog position. I’m fighting. I belong on that racetrack just as much as he does, just as much as the leaders do.”
He continued, “I’m not going to back down on that. I haven’t seen a replay, but based on what I felt, I went to the middle of the track. I didn’t track all the way out to show that I was going to go back to the bottom.”
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As the two drivers went into the turn, Reif seemingly clipped Muniz’s truck while trying to pass him, and both trucks crashed into the wall. Hill was right behind Reif and ended up in the crosshairs of the crash.
Muniz has been passionate about racing since he was a kid, and is famously one of the last people whospoke with the late NASCAR legend,Dale Earnhardt, before his fatal 2001 crash.
“He was extremely friendly to me,” Muniz recalled of the legendary driver in the February 2026 FS1 documentaryWe’ve Lost Dale Earnhardt: 25 Years Later. “And I remember he said, ‘I have to say thank you to you … because your show has brought me and my daughter closer together.’ He’s like, ‘It’s something that we turn on Sunday nights and we watch together.’”
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"Malcolm in the Middle" was at the peak of its popularity at that time.
Muniz broke into racing in 2004 after stepping away from the Hollywood spotlight, making his professional racing debut in 2006.
In 2024, Munizannounced that he would be racing fulltimeduring the 2025 NASCAR season.
“This is something that I’ve been working [toward] for literally 20 years when I did my first race,” Muniz said of racing at the time. “That feeling of crossing the finish line first in that pro-celebrity race, was an incredible, incredible feeling and I’ve been chasing that.”
