Mystery surrounds crash that left Frankie Muniz in hospital… as horrifying picture of mangled car emerges after Malcolm in the Middle star had to be cut from vehicle

Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz has been released from hospital after a scary crash ahead of a Veterans Day race - but mystery still surrounds the circumstances of his accident.Muniz was practicing for the inaugural Ford Proud to Honor Veterans Day Classic event at Daytona International Speedway.But he was unable to take part in the event after being rushed to hospital after crashing his Ford Mustang Dark Horse Rs.A picture later emerged of his mangled car, sparking serious concern for his wellbeing with the roof completely caved in and crushed. But the reality of that horrifying photo was that Muniz was cut from the wreckage, eyewitnesses confirmed.Further footage shared by an eyewitness showed him being loaded into an ambulance after being stabilized before he was taken to a nearby medical facility. Frankie Muniz was rushed to hospital after a scary crash at Daytona International Speedway Pictures soon emerged of the mangled wreckage after he was cut from his Ford Mustang carThe position of the wrecked car showed he had hit a tire barrier on the infield road course portion of the course on the early part of the lap. But mystery has surrounded the full details of the crash, with the practice session not being broadcast and no footage of the incident emerging. Instead, only worrying pictures of the mangled wreckage with the roof cut off and significant damage to the front of the car. In addition to that, the practice session was not open to spectators, meaning a limited number of eyewitnesses were in attendance to see what really happened.One of those who arrived just as the crash occurred, Van Richmond, told WESH 2 News that 'he did not slow down at all' when he was 'supposed to make a 90-degree turn'.Reporter Hayley Crombleholme said: 'The front of the car just looked absolutely crushed. We spoke with someone who was there when it happened. They said this hit was the hardest they've ever seen.'Richmond told the TV station it took around 20 minutes to load Muniz into the ambulance as he was cut from the vehicle, with an eyewitness on Reddit who says he was working at the race claiming he was 'complaining of severe back pain' leading medics to take extra precautions to safely extricate him from the vehicle. He was replaced by Jenson Altzman, while his teammate, Austin Cindric, ended up winning the race representing the U.S. Air Force.Altzman told Frontstretch: 'All of a sudden I found myself driving. Obviously for an unfortunate reason but really glad Frankie's good, that's the most important thing.'So far, Ford Racing has been reluctant to provide any further details on the cause or manner of the crash. But former NASCAR Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski, heavily involved with Ford Racing as part-owner of RFK Racing, insisted before the race there was no indication of an issue with the car causing the wreck. '[We] looked through all the data and didn't find anything happened to the car [before the crash],' he said. 'I think we're all pretty comfortable.' Footage captured by an eyewitness showed Muniz being pushed to an ambulance nearbyMuniz was due to be racing in the inaugural Ford Proud to Honor Veterans Day Classic Muniz is an experienced road course racer in Ford Mustang cars. This year, he won his first championship, the Pirelli GT4 America, after competing parallel to his commitments driving for Ford's Team Reaume in the NASCAR Cup Series.But a member of another team at the Veterans Day event claimed on Reddit that the brake system on the cars being used was different to Muniz' usual GT4 cars, where he performed so strongly this year. 'OK, well I'm here and working with another Mustang team from the event, so here's the consensus opinion on what happened...,' user ThePinkMohawk wrote on Reddit.'The Mustang DarkHorse R that they race in Mustang Challenge (aka these cars) has a street style boosted brake system. Frankie's normal GT4 Mustang does not have a boosted system, it's a manual system. 'With the boosted system, you have to ease into the brakes because if you stand on them like you would in a GT4 car, you can overload the system and do what is called 'ice the brakes' where they basically become completely unresponsive, even though they're at full pressure. 'Some teams relayed this information to their drivers, maybe Frankie wasn't made aware of this unique situation that can occur with these cars, but I know of at least one team owner who races these cars on a regular basis that has done exactly that and nearly missed the wall, it's a known thing basically.'Thankfully Frankie is OK, but they did have to cut the roof off of the car to get him out because he was complaining of severe back pain and they didn't want to take any risks. Hopefully he makes a quick recovery and I can go back to seeing him before and after races in the paddock on a regular basis again!'Muniz was released from the hospital on Wednesday evening and said in a statement: 'I am a little sore, but my Mustang did its job in protecting me. 'I want to thank everyone at Ford Racing, Daytona International Speedway and the staff here at the hospital. I especially want to thank everyone who has reached out and for all the prayers.'His Malcolm in the Middle co-star, Bryan Cranston, was in attendance to watch him race and told Entertainment Tonight that Muniz was an 'impatient patient' while he was undergoing checks and waiting to be released. Cranston said: 'Frankie had an accident today at the track. But he's fine. I've spoken to him and he's an impatient patient right now.'He's waiting to be released and he's like, 'OK, enough already', but it's a risky business.' NASCAR star Austin Cindric, Muniz teammate representing the U.S. Air Force, won the race Muniz has been racing in the NASCAR Truck Series and Pirelli GT4 America series for Ford Muniz has just completed his second fulltime season in the NASCAR Truck SeriesCranston shared his fears from watching Muniz race, having played his dad on Malcolm in the Middle for so long he has taken on a paternal role. He added: 'I'm looking at it from a sense of paternal love, because playing his father for seven years, and loving the kid as I do, he's 40 but he's my kid and I love him. When I watch him race I'm a little nervous, a little apprehensive, just like any parent.'I'm like, 'slow down, take it easy, be careful', you know. But it's fun and he loves it.' The crash marks a sad end to a season which has seen Muniz escape from a traumatic divorce from wife Paige and enjoy the biggest moment of his racing career.After winning the championship in October, he told Sportscar365: 'This feels so good. I never thought I'd experience this and at 40 years old, it feels really good.''I've been questioning what I'm doing the last year. Racing is such a hard business. The highs are super high and the lows are really, really low.'You mix that in all the personal stuff I was going through at home, you go, 'Should I be doing this? Should I just focus on something else?'Mid-season we started winning and feeling like, 'No, I belong in this series and I want to keep proving it.''Thank you to Ford for believing in me. The last couple of years, they've really supported me so much.'I'm so happy to bring the Mustang GT4 car a championship and we're going to repeat it next year.'