CONCORD, N.C. — Frankie Muniz is known by many as an actor and to others as a midpack NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series racer. But another crowd calls him champion.
Muniz and his co-driver, Tyler Stone, captured the title in the Pirelli GT4 America Am Class this season wheeling a Ford Mustang GT4. Muniz drives a Ford F-150 for Team Reaume in the Truck Series.
“I have an amazing relationship with Ford and I’m so grateful to have an amazing manufacturer supporting my racing journey, and they pushed me this year to give the sportscar world a try because they have the Mustang Challenge Series, the GT4 car, the GT3 car,” Muniz said during a Ford media teleconference. “They have the Hypercar coming out. They’re really putting an emphasis on their sportscar program and I went over there not knowing what to expect and won the championship and won a bunch of races.
“That felt incredible,” Muniz continued. “That’s not something I’ve ever done in my racing career, like to really kind of be there and feel like you can win, and it feels really good. I’m not gonna lie.”
Muniz said he still plans to compete in NASCAR, but will rely on Ford to play a role in what his next step may be.
“That said, I am not finished in the NASCAR world. I’m kind of getting guidance from them (Ford) and guidance from a bunch of places of where I should focus most of my time and effort next year,” Muniz said. “Obviously, I want to continue in the sportscar world, but I will be racing NASCAR. As of right now, it’s not necessarily full-time, but it’s not that it won’t be.
“There’s a lot of moving pieces as always when it comes to everybody’s schedule in the racing world, and we’re ironing it out. I love Josh (Reaume). I love my team and if I’m back in the NASCAR world, it will be with them again, but I know we want to prove what we’ve been working on even more, so we’ll do that, whether it be a part-time basis or full-time, I will be in the NASCAR Truck Series next year in some capacity.”
Winning was a new experience for Muniz.
“You do walk through the garage a little more confident, like when you know you’re the guy to beat. I know how Layne Riggs feels in the Truck garage, but I really, really loved it,” he explained. “I loved the racing. I loved SRO. I loved the different manufacturers competing against each other. I loved representing Ford in that world where you’re in a Mustang versus McLaren, BMW and Porsche.
“That was really exciting to get the championship for myself and Ford. I want to continue doing that. I want to continue doing the sportscars. I’d love to drive a GT3 car. I’d love to keep going in that world.”
Muniz says he ran 42 races across different disciplines this season.
“If I’m being honest, I think from the outside it probably looks like I’ve got all of my stuff semi-together, but I’ve just learned how to operate in that state of absolute craziness at all times,” he said. “Like even today, I was supposed to have someone drive my RV for my family for Talladega, but that fell through yesterday morning, so I got on a plane yesterday and flew to Charlotte, drove Charlotte to Talladega this morning.
“I’m doing this now. I’m going to the Birmingham airport and have to fly to Austin (Texas) tonight to do something with the Red Bull Formula 1 team and Ford tomorrow,” he continued. “I fly back Thursday. I’m used to just kind of being so non-stop and operating at what has to be a high level at that to where it actually seems fairly easy.
“I will say this year, especially on the GT4 side, I did – and I know this is gonna sound weird and maybe not the best thing for me to say – but I did the least amount of prep I’ve ever done for any type of racing. I didn’t have time to go to the sim. I didn’t have time to even go on iRacing. I had never been to most of the tracks and I showed up and just allowed my body to do it and just drive.”
