Actor-turned-racer Frankie Muniz has been expanding his stock car racing portfolio over the past two years with starts in both the NASCAR Xfinity and Truck Series, as well as the ARCA Menards Series. This year, he is running the complete Truck Series schedule with Reaume Brothers Racing in the No. 33 Ford, and he's having fun with it.
His rookie season has already included several highs and lows after just four races beginning with a career best finish of 10th at Daytona. The following week, he wrecked while having another top-ten run at Atlanta, leaving him frustrated with the lack of respect. As for the last two weeks away from drafting tracks, he's run nearly every lap with a pair of 24th-place finishes, which is perfectly respectable given the equipment he's in.
But in case you missed out on the No. 33 team's scanner at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Frankie was having an absolute blast inside the truck.
"My heart rate is already at 190, which is a good thing. It means I'm alive!" he exclaimed over the radio.
"If it's already at 190, you might not be alive that long so let's try to get that thing down, I'd say," replied the team. "Pull a little tape off of her, Frankie."
Muniz was upbeat throughout the race, despite thinking his "39 year old heart is about to explode" at one point due to the excitement of racing around the progressively banked 1.5-miler.
At one point, he even told his team: "I'm sorry if I puke in the car. Too many chicken tenders."
To which they promptly replied: "Future note. No more chicken tenders before race time."
After a thrilling race, Muniz shared the following message on social media: "Truly a magical week in Miami. Started with an insanely fun race ... Sure, we finished 24th but it was one of the most fun times I've had in a race car to date. Then my son's birthday was on Saturday. My mom, sister brother in-law and nieces sure made him feel so special. Also some much needed rest and relaxation at the beach. I race in Martinsville (next) then head straight to Vancouver to start filming the Malcolm reboot! Gonna be a busy year."
And if Muniz thought Homestead was fun, he's in for quite the ride at Martinsville, where every fan should have their scanners tuned to the No. 33's radio channel on Friday night. The contact-filled short track is never lacking for action, and it's a circuit he has never experienced before. Muniz enters the Martinsville race weekend 20th in the championship standings with 35 trucks signed up to compete. The field will include Cup star William Byron, who recently became a two-time winner of the Daytona 500.
