The Daytona 500 is one of the best places for sponsors to gain publicity in NASCAR. Millions watch the race globally, and so the teams and drivers manage to get the best names on the car with the strong financial backing. The drivers prepare for months for the grand race, with their sponsors and other contracts in place. However, not everything goes around like clockwork sometimes.

For this particular Truck Series driver, he’s currently facing a major financial setback just weeks before stepping down at the Daytona International Circuit.  Financially helpless right now, he gave an update on the same on social media.

Star driver faces sponsorship struggle ahead of Daytona

Frankie Muniz is one of the most popular NASCAR drivers currently. Not solely because of his racing, though. He was a child actor, most notably known for the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle. Now, however, he is prepared for his season in the Truck Series with Team Reaume. All seemed to be going well for him, but as he recently revealed on social media, one of his major sponsors, who was supposed to support him for multiple races, has backed out right before Daytona. Now, he seeks some support from others.

“Had a sponsor that was supposed to be on truck for Daytona move to some races later in the year, so that leaves my truck wide open for our marquis event! If anyone is interested in jumping on board last minute, please email info@munizracing.com! It would be fun to add a new partner at such a big event!” He wrote on X.

This is understandably a tough time for Muniz. Racing without sponsors can be tough, considering how expensive it is for teams to maintain the cars. Moreover, teams now rely a lot more on the driver’s backing via sponsors to ensure strong financial maintenance.

Muniz did not reveal the sponsor that backed out at the last minute, but luckily, there are still quite a few names that will back him this season. So far, Morgan & Morgan, Aerial Titans, and Levrack were his sponsors. It’s possible the one that’s shifted is one of these.

In either case, another brand is expected to take that place soon.

But this entire situation also reveals a more daunting reality about racing.

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Are sponsors holding back talent in NASCAR?

Understandably, the teams need money to operate and maintain the cars. Every component of the car can be unbelievably expensive. Add that to the other costs that the teams face, and they would want a driver with a strong financial backing. This has become quite common in racing, and more so in NASCAR. However, this wasn’t always the case.

Speaking on his podcast, former driver Mark Martin recently revealed that getting into motorsports never used to be so difficult if one had the talent. In fact, he mentioned that he got ‘most’ of his car for free in the Late Model Series.

“Being so young, I got all product. After I had won my first ASA championship in ’78, I got a free chassis, and then I got tires from Firestone. I got wheels, shocks, springs. I mean, everything that went on the car was free except for the engines, and you could do it off the purse then because of that, because you had no overhead hardly at all,” Martin said.

But the situation has changed now. As mentioned, the teams would usually go for a driver who brings more sponsors. While this doesn’t exactly seem bad for the sport, Corey Heim’s example in this context speaks volumes.

He dominated the Truck Series in the 2025 season. Winning 12 races and the championship, he broke Greg Biffle’s previous record of nine race wins in the series. There seemed to be nothing stopping him; however, he still doesn’t have a full-time seat for 2026. Although there are a plethora of speculations for this, a major reason is his lack of strong financial backing and sponsors.

This does raise the question: would teams rather pick drivers with sponsors instead of talent? That seems to be the case with Heim’s situation, and it could hurt NASCAR in the long term.