Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Ford Racing Media Zoom Call
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
Frankie Muniz, driver of the No. 33 Team Reaume Ford F-150 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, is coming off a championship with the Ford Mustang GT4 in the Pirelli GT4 America Am Class, clinching the title on Oct. 11 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Muniz is also one of the 12 drivers who will be competing in the inaugural Ford Proud to Honor Veterans Day Classic on Nov. 11 at Daytona International Speedway. He spoke about both events as well as his expectations for the rest of the NASCAR season earlier today on Ford Racing’s weekly media call.
FRANKIE MUNIZ, No. 33 Team Reaume Ford F-150 – HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT PARTICIPATING IN THE FORD PROUD TO HONOR VETERANS DAY CLASSIC NEXT MONTH? “I was at the event in San Diego when they announced the race and it was one of those where I was like, ‘Hey, I better be included in that,’ because it’s going to be a really fun event for an amazing cause for our military on Veterans Day. I obviously wanted to be involved if I could be and I’m thankful for my amazing relationship with Ford that they invited me and I’m excited to go race with some of the guys I don’t get to race with all the time. We’re ultra competitive. Even though it’s an exhibition race, no, it’s not. We’re there for the military, but I’m also there for the trophy. I’m not gonna lie.”
YOUR FAMILY HAS A MILITARY HISTORY. CAN YOU SHARE THAT? “My grandfather was in the Navy. My dad was also in the Navy and then the Air Force Reserve for my whole childhood growing up. I remember going to visit him out there, so I do have a military tie and I’m so grateful for my family and all the members of our military that sacrifice so much for us to live in the greatest country in the world. That was obviously the biggest yes. Yes, I get to race, and I get to race with guys that are Cup drivers, and I get to race with guys I don’t race all the time. The fact it’s for our military on Veterans Day, I knew I wanted to be a part of it and honor those who allow us to do what we do on the weekends and race.”
YOU MENTIONED YOU MAY OR MAY NOT BE IN NASCAR FULLTIME NEXT SEASON. HOW DO YOU VIEW THESE PAST TWO YEARS? “It’s been an amazing journey. When I do something, I do it fully. People always ask me what my hobbies are, I don’t have hobbies. When I do something, I want to do it at the highest level I can possibly do it and try to be the best. I still feel like I have a lot of unfinished business in the racing world, especially in the NASCAR world. It’s such a tough series. It’s such a tough sport. There are so many good drivers, so many good teams, and I feel like I’ve figured out a lot. I feel like I’m a much better racer and driver than I was when I came in, but I’m still not necessarily seeing the results that I expect to see or want to see. So, that’s why I’m not finished yet in the NASCAR world. Like I said earlier, 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. 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. 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. That said, I am not finished in the NASCAR world. I’m kind of getting guidance from them and guidance from a bunch of places of where I should focus most of my time and effort next year. 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.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE EXCITEMENT OF THE 2026 SEASON FOR YOU IN SPORTSCAR AND WHAT DOES 2027 LOOK LIKE FOR YOU IN THAT SERIES? “It was a weird year just in general because, like I said, I’d never driven sportscars. I always wanted to, but when you focus on one discipline, like when I first started racing I was into open wheel stuff. I was doing CHAMP Car Atlantics with the intention of going CHAMP Car racing or Indy Car racing. I got hurt and stopped that for a while, but when I went back racing I wanted to go NASCAR racing. That’s like saying you want to be an Olympic diver or an Olympic swimmer. Sure, they both involve water, but it’s a way different sport. I kind of dove off the deep end with my first start being at Daytona in ARCA and had a good ARCA year. Moving to the Truck Series is obviously much tougher competition, but I really feel like I race a lot better. Even at Phoenix, we had a crappy result but it felt good in the car because we were battling with some good drivers side-by-side for most of the laps, which is exciting as a driver. So, going back to GT4, before Sonoma, which was the first event, we didn’t even do a single test. I don’t even think our Mustang GT4 car had ever even been turned on before the first practice session, so we really had no idea what our expectations should be or where we’d stack up and ended up that first race, Tyler (Stone) and I finished second. We were like, ‘What happened?’ I don’t even feel like I really started getting a grasp of the car or how it handles, or even all the technology that’s inside the car. There’s so many aids and we have longitudinal track control and latitudinal track control and 12 ABS settings and co-settings and throttle settings. We never even got to play with any of that, so by the time mid-season came and I really felt like I had a grasp of the car, I really was showing up with the intention of like, ‘We’re at least going to be on the podium and, if not, win races.’ Like I said, I’d never necessarily been in that position in my career. 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. 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. I know there’s some talk of that even for next year, so there will be a big focus in the sportscar world for me, but I don’t want you guys to discount or think I’m dropping out of NASCAR. It’s not that. Racing in the NASCAR Truck Series is the most exciting racing I’ve ever experienced, like when you’re in the car. Driving the car is a little funny when you’re by yourself because it just doesn’t really do anything very good, but when you’re in the race, there’s nothing cooler than that. I’m out in Talladega right now looking at the grandstands and being here, this is amazing, but the racing and the skill in sportscar just fits my driving style really well. I’m just so confident in that car and I feel like that’s something I need to pursue because we did well and I feel like I’m just getting started in that world. I can’t wait for race one to start next year with what I finished this year.”
SO YOU’RE STAYING TO STAY TUNED. “Yeah. There’s gonna be a lot. I did 42 races this year and I may beat that next year which will be hard to do, but that’s what it’s like.”
GOING BACK TO THE DOUBLEHEADER AT BARBER, WHAT DID THOSE TWO RACES TEACH YOU ABOUT DEALING WITH ADVERSITY? “It’s hard when you care about something so much to forget about it, or just go, ‘It’ll be okay. Everything happens for a reason.’ People try to be positive like that, but my least favorite saying in racing is ‘That’s Racing.’ I literally can’t stand that. Sure, I know it is, but I don’t want it to be. I don’t want to wreck out of the race, or I don’t want a mechanical failure or whatever it may be. Barber was interesting because we went in, I’m trying to think what the points situation was at that point. I don’t even know if we necessarily knew we had a chance. I guess we were close in the points, but we still weren’t thinking championship because we had some things happen early in the year that took it out of our control, so when I had the car, I started the first race and I was fast. I was just passing cars and it’s really hard to pass at Barber. I was moving fast and I was right behind the leader and I had an opportunity to pass and I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to yet, but I wanted to look and I got into the ABS a little too much and rolled one foot too far and just got into the leader. That broke our tie rod and we were out of the race. At that point, I really felt like I just threw away the championship because we needed the points. We would have easily finished on the podium if I just got the car to Tyler and he’d finish the race. So, that was a tough mental thing to take, and then obviously to come back the next day, and I think we started pretty far down in the field. I think I passed like 14 cars in my 30-minute stint, which was pretty wild. It’s really fun to do that and to pass for the lead against the team that had been the strongest all year and then hold them off for most of my stint, that felt really good. It didn’t feel lucky. It didn’t feel like people broke. We literally beat them with our skill and with our speed and with the car and that felt really, really good. And it ended up that the other team that needed to have a bad day did, so we entered the last round leading by one point, so we were basically tied going into the final round. It really did prove to me that you cannot give up and even more than that, because I give long answers, Indy, we finished second the first race, which is the race I started. I got into the lead and had a decent gap, but when we made the change, Tyler lost one position and we finished second. If things were to continue that way, if the team that won, won again and we finished second, we would have tied for the points and they would have gotten the championship based on more wins. So, qualifying for race two ended up getting canceled because they had a timing and scoring issue, so not even weather or an accident. They just couldn’t get the timing and scoring to work for that 15-minute window that we had for qualifying, so they went based off practice times. We had a brake issue in practice, so we didn’t even put a time in, so we had to start like 34th of 35 cars and 13th in class while our competitors for the championship were first and second. Even that morning we were so disappointed thinking the championship is gonna be decided by the fact that we didn’t get to qualify or like a bad break. But, Tyler drove amazing. I think he handed me the car when we were seventh in class and we had a perfect pit stop. And then I could see the leader. I somehow caught him and I could see them, and then once I knew that we were in the championship lead I was like, ‘I’m just gonna ride right here.’ I think I still could have won the race, but I did not want to mess up. We had the championship and that was the greatest feeling in the world. I don’t think we ever really thought that we had the opportunity to do it, but, like I said, now we feel really confident going into next year and want to defend. I expect to win races next year, which is a pretty exciting feeling going into a season.”
HOW DO YOU STAY ON YOUR A-GAME AND KEEP EVERYTHING STRAIGHT BETWEEN ALL THE THINGS YOU DO? “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. 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 (TX) tonight to do something with the Red Bull Formula 1 team and Ford tomorrow. 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. I realized that I know how to drive. Sometimes I get in my head so much or you’re thinking or you have an expectation of what you’re gonna feel or how the weekend is gonna go and you can make that happen, whether it be good or bad. By showing up and just driving, which I’ve done now for 20 years, I know how to race cars. I don’t know. It really, really worked this year. I know that’s probably not the thing most drivers say. They say, ‘I spent hours in the shop and the sim.’ But I feel like some of my best races are the ones that I just showed up and did what my body knows what to do. That helped me this year to ease on the timing. Last year, I was flying Monday, doing sim Tuesday, flying back Tuesday night, flying Thursday to the race, racing Friday. It was just maybe too much, where this year I got to focus on racing and then when I’m home being with my family, which is ultra important as well.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE NEW DAYS OF THUNDER FILM AND HAVE YOU REACHED OUT TO ANYBODY ABOUT TRYING TO GET INVOLVED? “I know when it was an early rumor that it might happen, I think I tweeted something like, ‘If I’m not involved in that, there’s gonna be an issue,’ because you don’t even need to have a stunt guy for me. I literally do it. I race for real life, too. I haven’t heard anything. I’m not expecting it. I don’t really consider myself an actor anymore, if that makes sense. If it happens, they would be hiring the race car version of Frankie Muniz, not the actor side, but it just makes sense. I’ve already got my SAG card, but, no, I haven’t heard anything and, to be honest, I haven’t had time to even think about when they’re filming or how that would work. I’m just focused on the racing I have left and then getting ready for next year. I know it’s gonna be a busy year, so no Days of Thunder for me as of yet.”
THERE’S A REPORT THAT TOM CRUISE WAS INTERESTED IN DOING THE ARCA RACE. AS SOMEBODY WHO HAS GONE FROM ACTING TO RACING. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU HAVE FOR SOMEBODY IN THAT SITUATION? “I know he’s done some racing. I don’t know exactly what, but there’s a lot of people who have never done anything and think they can jump in a race car and do it. I mean, he’s such of a daredevil and does so many of his stunts, so you’re not really gonna be afraid. I remember me, who had raced a lot before I raced ARCA, sure I was new in the stock car world, but I remember being at Daytona about to start that race and trembling, like just being scared out of my mind because you don’t get to practice around people. They have the winter test that they do, which kind of gets you approved to do the race. You kind of run by yourself or maybe a car or two, and then even that afternoon or the first session, you’ve got one practice session, and that was really my first time in a little bit of a pack and it was maybe four cars. There’s nothing that can prepare you for what it’s like when you’re actually in the pack at Daytona or Talladega. Now that I’ve done it, I remember thinking when I did the ARCA race for the first time and I completed Daytona being shocked that I had to do it again at Talladega because it’s like, ‘I survived it. Oh, man that was crazy. Oh, no. Now I know what it’s like.’ It actually scares you even a little bit more if that makes sense. But going to Tom doing the ARCA race, I would love to see it. I don’t know how he would do, but I think people forget that it is so dangerous. I don’t care what series it is at Daytona, you’re going 200 miles an hour inches from each other and you’ve got to have amazing car control and make really, really smart decisions or you can hurt not just yourself but a lot of people. So, if it does happen, I hope they do whatever they need to do to figure out if he’s ready for it. If I’m being honest, it really didn’t do much for me to figure out that I was ready for it, so maybe I’m not one to talk, but I would love to see it. I’d be there watching, for sure.”
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BUCKET LIST ITEMS YOU HAVE? “I used to always have a goal I was trying to achieve, that I was trying to reach for, but then I realized every time I got to that goal, I wanted more or I felt like I wasn’t done yet, where now I am waiting until I feel it within me of like, ‘Yes, I feel like I’ve accomplished all that either I want to accomplish or maybe all that I’m going to accomplish.’ I don’t feel done in any way, shape or form. I’m about to be 41 years old. I’m not young in this sport. I’m one of the older drivers in the Truck Series or even in NASCAR in general and that’s interesting to me in my mind because I still feel like I want to do this for as long as I possibly can. But, at the same time, I want to be successful. I want to feel like the work that we are putting in as a team and me and Ford that we’re seeing progress there. I feel like we’ve seen glimpses of it at times, but I would be dissatisfied if I said I was done racing NASCAR and what I did is what I did. I feel like I still have a lot more to prove to myself and to everybody and I want to do that. Hopefully, it starts this weekend at Talladega. We have three more this year – Talladega, Martinsville and Homestead. I’ve had decent races at all of those, so hopefully we can finish the year really, really strong and be excited for Daytona.”
ANY INTEREST IN THE 24 HOURS OF LE MANS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT? “Now that I’m in the sportscar world, 100 percent. I want to do all of them. I got to race at Le Mans last year with Ford. They did a Mustang Challenge race there and there were over 50 cars there. It was awesome. It was amazing to get to race there on the weekend of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was an incredible experience, but I would obviously love to be in the big cars doing it. Now I feel like I can. Now I feel like, ‘You know what, I can. I’d be good on one of those teams. One of those GT3 or GTD Mustangs could use Frankie Muniz in there.’ I would love it, but we’ll see. Like I said, there are talks about more than just GT4 for next year, whether that be a part-time basis or just filling in for some of the longer races as a third driver I’ll be doing that, so I think that’s pretty exciting. Maybe I’ll get some of those bucket list races and locations knocked off too.”
BETWEEN YOUR ACTING CAREER, MUSIC CAREER AND NOW RACING, WHAT ATTRIBUTES HAVE YOU TAKEN FROM THOSE PROFESSIONS TO RACING AND VICE VERSA? “I used to say that there wasn’t much that you could take or if anything, like just the fact that I’d been interviewed my whole life so I didn’t really need much media training. I don’t know. You guys might say different like maybe I talk too much, so maybe I need to go back to media training. I would say now that I have done a lot of racing and gone back to the acting world, I would say the racing has made me better at performing in the moment, whether it be public speaking, whether it be ad-libbing, or whether it be going out of my comfort zone because I’m so used to just having to roll with the punches and perform. Where maybe I used to be in my head too much in the acting world or wanted to do it a certain way. Now I feel like I’m so much more confident in all aspects of my life as weird as that sounds because of what I’ve done racing, just because everything seems a little easy compared to that, or less stressful at least and I love that. Otherwise, I don’t know. I’m used to having to perform in the moment on the big stage when the cameras are watching, so I guess that helped coming from the acting world into the racing world but not much else.”
