POCONOTES: Actor Muniz in middle of ARCA points battle
Jul. 21—From 2000 to 2006, he played the main character on the television sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle."
Now, Frankie Muniz is in the midst of a championship battle in the ARCA Menards Series.
The 37-year-old actor is in his rookie season in ARCA, driving for Rette Jones Racing in the No. 30 Ford. He comes to Pocono Raceway for the Sunset Hill Shooting Range 150 on Friday at 6 p.m. The race kicks off the NASCAR weekend at the 2.5-mile triangular track in Long Pond.
With seven top-10 finishes in nine races — including four sixth-place efforts — Muniz ranks second in the ARCA standings with 369 points. That is 49 behind leader Jesse Love.
Muniz has always had a passion for racing. He competed multiple times in the Toyota Celebrity/Pro Race in Long Beach, California. He drove in the Formula BMW USA Series in 2006 and the Champ Car Atlantic Series from 2007-09. Injuries suffered in a crash in 2009 caused him to put his racing career on hold. He resumed it last year, driving a Late Model at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield, California. In January, it was announced that he would join Rette Jones Racing.
"The racing is so fun in this series. Honestly, it's so tight," Muniz said recently on the ARCA website. "This is a dream come true. I'm having a blast and I love it. I really do."
Love, 18-year-old driver for Venturini Motorsports, has four wins, including back-to-back-to back victories at Talladega, Kansas and Charlotte. He also has three poles, seven top-fives and eight top-10s to lead the standings with 418 points.
Andres Perez de Lara is third with 355 points. Christian Rose is fourth with 344 points and Jon Garrett rounds out the top five with 304 points.
Another driver to keep an eye on is Connor Mosack. The 24-year-old driver for Joe Gibbs Racing has top-10 finishes in each of his three ARCA starts this season.
A different driver has won the ARCA race at Pocono for 31 consecutive races. With no previous winners entered in this year's race, that streak will extend to 32.
Double duty
With four races in three days at Pocono, multiple drivers are scheduled to compete in more than one race.
Chase Elliott, defending winner of the HighPoint.com 400 Cup Series race, will also drive for Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 on Saturday. It is Elliott's first Xfinity Series start since August 2021 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. He won the Xfinity Series championship in 2014.
Daniel Suarez, Cole Custer and Ty Dillon are also entered in the Cup Series and Xfinity Series races.
Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain will drive in both the Cup Series race Sunday and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series CRC Brakleen 150 on Saturday. All three drivers are past winners of the Trucks race at Pocono.
Four drivers — Austin Hill, Kaz Grala, Parker Kligerman and Corey Heim — are scheduled to compete in the Xfinity Series and Truck Series races.
Besides the ARCA Series race, Mosack will drive in the Xfinity Series race.
Two to go
Saturday's CRC Brakleen 150 is the penultimate race of the Trucks Series regular season. Next week's race at Richmond is the regular-season finale. The playoffs over the final seven races begin Aug. 11 at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.
Six drivers are locked into the postseason with victories. Heim, Zane Smith, Grant Enfinger, Christian Eckes and Carson Hocevar each have two wins and Ben Rhodes has one.
That leaves four spots remaining. Ty Majeski appears to have one of them since he currently is 95 points above the cutoff line. Provided there is a repeat winner or a win by a driver who can't advance to the playoffs, Majeski needs to score 12 points to clinch a playoff berth.
Then things get really tight. Matt DiBenedetto is five points above the cutoff, Nick Sanchez is two points above and Matt Crafton one point above. Stewart Friesen is one point below the cutoff, followed by Tanner Gray (24 points below), Chase Purdy (49), Tyler Ankrum (76) and Jake Garcia (77).
Tough ticket
Pocono Raceway announced that only a limited number of grandstand seats in the 200 level remain for Sunday's HighPoint.com 400.
Seating in the 100 and 300 levels of the main grandstand, as well as premium seating in the suites, Terrace Club and Club Pocono are sold out.
Also, infield camping is sold out. A limited number of spots are available in the Grandstand Camping Area outside of Turn 3.
Seating options remain for Friday and Saturday. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit poconoraceway.com or call 1-800-722-3929.
NASCAR AT POCONO SCHEDULE
Friday
11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. — ARCA Series practice
12:30-12:50 p.m. — ARCA Series practice
1:35-2:05 p.m. — NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series practice
2:05-3 p.m. — NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series qualifying
3:35-4:05 p.m. — NASCAR Xfinity Series practice
4:05-5 p.m. — NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying
6 p.m. — ARCA Series Sunset Hill Shooting Range 150
Saturday
Noon — NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series CRC Brakleen 150
2:35-3:20 p.m. — NASCAR Cup Series practice
3:20-4:30 p.m. — NASCAR Cup Series qualifying
5:30 p.m. — NASCAR Xfinity Series Pocono Mountains 225
Sunday
2:30 p.m. — NASCAR Cup Series HighPoint.com 400
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