And everything that you do in preparation, training, being with a team, you need to because you're competing against people that that's their lives. "If you want to be a race car driver, you need to be a race car driver. "If you want to be the best or you want to do anything successfully, you really need to give 100 percent to that thing," Muniz said. Muniz tested at Daytona last month and was hanging out at the NASCAR test at Phoenix. I want people to look at me and see me on track and go, ‘Wow, he belongs.’" You know what I mean? I'm mad I waited 12 years after my last racing experience to get here. "I want to prove to people that I'm here to take it seriously. "There also really wasn't social media as much back then, so maybe the word didn't spread that I was a race car driver in the past as easily as it does these days. "I was a pretty serious racer, but it's been so long," Muniz said. Muniz has always loved racing and nearly went Ind圜ar racing in 2010. This isn’t just some hey-this-seems-cool fling. The 37-year-old Muniz, whom most people know from his roles as Malcolm in the hit TV show from 2000-2006 and as the star of "Agent Cody Banks," will embark on a full ARCA schedule this year with Rette Jones Racing. Hopefully we’ll be in this world for years to come.Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass! “I not only want to prove it to myself, I’m ready to prove it for my family and the amount of time we’re dedicating to this on and off the track. 30 Rette Jones Racing Ford turned the quickest lap (182.212 mph) Thursday among the 33 cars who participated in the ARCA 200 practice session.īut during a news conference Wednesday, Muniz sounded giddy about the opportunity in front of him, as if he was still trying to convince himself that he’s about to race on one of the most iconic tracks in the world. Granted, he’s a famous one, though “Malcolm in the Middle” fans might be taken aback by his facial hair. Eventually, he hopes his connections in the business and racing world help him become a NASCAR team owner.įor now, though, he is like any rookie. He’s only accepting acting gigs if he can fit them around his ARCA schedule (like a 19-day film shoot scheduled in the six-week gap between races at Phoenix and Talladega). “But if I want to do it - if I want to make it at the level that I want to make it - I’ve got to do it now, and I’ve got to do it at a way quicker pace than most people do.” “I’m an old guy in the sport,” said Muniz, 37. Though the itch to race never disappeared, it took the birth of his son to push it back into the forefront and send Muniz behind the wheel again. Petersburg), Muniz was left behind with a broken back and pins in his wrist. While his teammate, Simona de Silvestro, moved on to Ind圜ar (where she has raced in six Indianapolis 500s and twice finished in the top six at the Grand Prix of St. He thought he was poised to get a ride in the prestigious Ind圜ar Series in 2010, but a bad wreck late in ’09 derailed those plans. He jumped into open-wheel racing in the Formula BMW USA Championship before advancing to the Atlantic Championship. “That was the greatest feeling I ever had, to cross that finish line,” Muniz said. By that point, Muniz had been nominated for an Emmy and two Golden Globes, acted alongside Amanda Bynes and Hilary Duff and voiced a character on “The Simpsons.” Winning that race trumped all of them. Muniz got into a car for a pro/celebrity race at Long Beach and won it in 2005. before the 2001 Daytona 500 that claimed his life. He went from his home in Raleigh to NASCAR races in Charlotte and met Dale Earnhardt Sr. As a kid, he’d get up early on the weekends to watch Formula One and NASCAR. Muniz’s sincere love of motorsports started young. I’m not going there thinking I’m going to be happy in 20th. “As a racecar driver, my intention is to win the race. “‘He has money, and he’s just going to go and waste it.’ I’ve heard it all. “I think maybe when people hear the story that I’m going racing, they think automatically - ‘Oh, he’s going to have fun, or it’s just a hobby,’” Muniz said.
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