NASCAR fans nationwide are remembering Dale Earnhardt as the 25-year anniversary of his fatal crash approaches, and that includes actor-turned-driver Frankie Muniz.
The Malcolm in the Middle star was famously one of the last people to talk to Earnhardt before his death at the Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach, Florida, at age 49 on February 18, 2001. He admits he was starstruck by The Intimidator in the moment.
“I don’t get nervous meeting people or I don’t get [a] starstruck feeling, but he’s ‘The Intimidator,’ and I was intimidated,” Muniz, 40, admits in the FS1 documentary We’ve Lost Dale Earnhardt: 25 Years Later, which premiered on Thursday, February 12.
Muniz continued, “He was extremely friendly to me, 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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At the time, Malcolm in the Middle was airing its second season after premiering in 2000 to rave reviews. Muniz was at the Daytona 500 that day to film a segment for MTV’s Diary.
“Another thing he told me was, you know, ‘Enjoy it, enjoy the run, because you never know when it’s gonna end,’” he added. “I was, besides his crew chief, probably one of the last people to talk to Dale Earnhardt the day he died.”
Earnhardt died on the final lap of the race when he collided with another driver, leading to his car hitting the outside wall head-on. Seconds later, his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished second in the race. Earnhardt Sr. was pronounced dead at a local hospital that evening.
“Maybe I talked to him for a total of three minutes,” Muniz recalled. “A very impactful three minutes. Especially where my life ended up going. That was an integral part of finding the passion for the sport. I knew that I would give up everything to try to be a part of the magic that is NASCAR that he helped build.”
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Malcolm fans are eagerly anticipating the upcoming reboot miniseries Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair, which premieres April 10 on Hulu and Disney+, and it may be their first chance to see Muniz on their screen in years. Muniz’s acting career hasn’t gone completely dormant, but his credits recently have been few and far between as he focused on his racing career.
“I wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing [racing] halfway,” he told Us Weekly in a September 2025 cover story. “You need to put your heart and soul into it. I was also at a point where I was just like, I’m good. I made tons of money, and I could kind of step away if I wanted to. So many actors truly just want it, and they accept whatever comes with that life [and] with that world. And I never felt like I belonged.
He continued, “I always felt like an outsider as an actor. Like, how do they let me do this? Even when I’m around most actors, they feel like actors to me. They’re so actor-y. [Laughs.] There’s good and bad in that, but mostly not how I want to be. But I was proud to call myself an actor for, I think, the first time when we finished filming the Malcolm reboot.”
