Frankie Muniz, the childhood star of hit series Malcolm in the Middle, is becoming a NASCAR racer at the age of 38.
He is joining Reaume Brothers Racing as a full-time driver for the 2025 season of NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
The actor, who also featured in the Cody Banks movie series, has been a professional racer since 2006.
Speaking to PEOPLE, Muniz said of the shock move: ‘I don’t want to say it’s a long time coming, but this has been a dream of mine for forever.
‘I started with doing the open wheel route. I thought I was going to go IndyCar, kind of the Formula 1 route, but I always had in the back of my mind that I wanted to try NASCAR.
‘I wanted to do it. I grew up watching NASCAR. I was a huge fan, but it’s not something I necessarily thought that I’d ever get the opportunity to do. I want people to know that I’ve literally dedicated my life to this.
‘When I’m not in the race car, I’m thinking about being in the race car. I’m training, I’m in the simulator at Ford, the Ford Performance Technical Center. I’m working with my engineers and my crew chiefs and the team and doing everything I can.’
In 2023, Muniz competed in the ARCA Menards Series, finishing fourth at the end of the season with one top-five finish and 11 top-10s.
Muniz accepted that he is still best known for his Malcolm in the Middle role and hasn’t closed the door on acting again in the future – but racing is his No. 1 focus for the time being.
‘The kid from Malcolm in the Middle is racing in NASCAR. You know what I mean? And that’s what people say, but I am. I did it.
‘I don’t want to just have made it to NASCAR — I want, when people think of the truck series, they think of NASCAR that they think of, oh, ‘I want to watch Frankie. He’s competitive.” So I’m doing everything I can.’
Muniz’s season begins on February 14 at Daytona Beach in Florida, meaning he has almost four months to prepare for his debut race.
Speaking to FOX, Muniz said: ‘Making the leap to the truck series, it’s a whole other level.
’36 trucks start the race and all 36 drivers are really, really good. So if I am going to do this, I want to dedicate myself to it. You can’t act on the side.’
Malcolm in the Middle ran for seven seasons from 2000 until 2006 and still today is regarded as a classic sitcom. Muniz played Malcolm, a child genius with an IQ of 165 growing up in a dysfunctional family as one of four brothers.
Malcolm’s dad, Hal, was played by Bryan Cranston, who is best known for his role as Walter White in Breaking Bad.
In 2012, Muniz was hospitalized with what was later diagnosed with a mini stroke. He has spoken previously about struggling with memory loss due to multiple concussions as a teenager.
