Frankie Muniz Walked Out of the Hospital Hours After Crews Had to Cut the Roof Off His Car at Daytona
by Sari Moon · Thought CatalogBy Sari Moon
Updated 37 minutes ago, November 12, 2026
Frankie Muniz walked out of a Florida hospital Wednesday evening, hours after his Mustang hit a tire barrier nose-first at Daytona International Speedway and safety crews had to cut the roof off to get him out.
The 40-year-old “Malcolm in the Middle” star was practicing on the infield road course Nov. 11, ahead of that night’s Ford “Proud to Honor” Veterans Day exhibition, when he crashed. He was taken to a local facility, awake and alert, and released the same evening.
“I am a little sore, but my Mustang did its job in protecting me,” Muniz said. No fracture, concussion, or other diagnosis has been named, and the only account of how he’s feeling is his own.
He’d been the second-fastest driver in practice before the wreck, and was set to run the exhibition with co-driver Austin Cindric. Jenson Altzman, 24, took his place.
Brad Keselowski said Ford’s data “didn’t find anything happened to the car,” and nobody has stated what caused the crash.
This is one in a run of hard years on track. He fractured his wrist falling off a ladder at his Arizona home in August 2025, which sidelined him until Talladega in October.
On April 10, 2026, he and Tyler Reif crashed at Bristol and both walked away. Racing full-time now in the Truck Series, where he drives the No. 33 Ford for Team Reaume, Muniz is already set to compete in both the Truck Series and GT4 America once more in 2027.
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