Actor Ditched Hollywood for NASCAR: ‘Dedicated My Life to This’

Published: October 24, 2024

Actor Ditched Hollywood for NASCAR: ‘Dedicated My Life to This’

By Movieguide® Contributor

Frankie Muniz is officially a full-time NASCAR driver!

“Reaume Brothers Racing is excited to continue its journey with Frankie Muniz as he embarks as the full-time driver of the No. 33 F-150 in the upcoming NCTS 2025 season,” a press release from the team announced. “This thrilling partnership marks a significant milestone in Muniz’s racing career as he transitions from part-time competition to a full-time presence in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.”

The former child star has been racing since 2004, beginning his professional career two years later.

“I don’t want to say it’s a long time coming, but this has been a dream of mine for forever,” Muniz told PEOPLE. “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.”

The MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE star continued, “I want people to know that I’ve literally dedicated my life to this. You know what I mean? I love it. When I’m not in the race car, I’m thinking about being in the race car…I’m going to just be as prepared as humanly possible.”

Being a full-time NASCAR driver has long been a dream of Muniz’s.

Muniz previously spoke to Fox News about why he decided to step back from acting to pursue racing full-time.

“As an actor, like, I’ve been fortunate to do a lot of great things and people tell me, ‘I love your show, or I love this or love that,’ but, you know, it’s all based on opinion,” he Hollywood-star">explained. “I could show up to work as an actor and dedicate my life to the role and feel like I did the best job ever. And then people see it and go, ‘Yeah, it was okay. I didn’t like it.’ Where, as a race car driver, it’s not subjective. It’s in black and white. You either win and you’re the fastest or you’re slow.”

While Muniz speaks fondly of his time as a child star and actor, he has made it clear he has been enjoying his time away from Hollywood.

Hollywood.html">READ MORE: ‘PEOPLE GO DOWN A BAD PATH’: WHY MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE STAR TOOK A BREAK FROM Hollywood