Frankie Muniz channeled his inner Rodney Dangerfield this week, saying his fellow drivers in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series don’t respect the former “Malcolm in the Middle” star-turned-racer on the track.
Muniz had a promising start to his NASCAR trucks career with a Top 10 finish last week in Daytona. But after a multi-car wreck this weekend in Atlanta, the former child star bemoaned that his Hollywood credentials aren’t exactly helping his on-track reputation.
After a trackside reporter asked about his disappointing day, he said: “I definitely don’t get respect out there, 100 percent, nobody goes [races in tandem] with me. I think someone put me three wide and pushed me to the outside.”
Muniz noted he had another Top 10 finish in his second race after running well Saturday before he was collected in the pile-up.
“I don’t think anyone expects us to run up there, so the fact that we were there on merit, no lucky breaks, we raced our way up there, I felt like we were just cruisin’,” he said. “I’m hoping to earn respect out there and I hope with how tight I was racing people and I was fairly clean the entire time … until I keep doing it, it’s going to be tough.”
Muniz is two races deep in his first full-time season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He drives the No. 33 Ford for Reaume Brothers Racing, marking a significant step in his racing career.
Watch the entire interview in the clip, above.
