Frankie Muniz pondered retirement but ultimately chose to keep driving full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the actor and stock car racer announced Monday.
Muniz will remain at the wheel of Team Reaume's No. 33 Ford while also competing outside of NASCAR in the SRO GT4 America championship. Muniz said he would co-drive Techsport Racing's Mustang G4 with series veteran Tyler Stone.
Those commitments set up a hectic 2026 for the Emmy and Golden Globe nominee who celebrated his 40th birthday
on Friday.
"I cannot wait. It's going to be a crazy busy year. Got the Malcolm (in the Middle) reboot coming out, as well," Muniz said in a video message he posted on X. "Just can't wait to get the season started and get on the racetrack."
Muniz appended a caption to the video recording that read, "I thought I was done. I really did. Hung up the helmet, said ‘that's a wrap' on racing... then realized I've still got way too much unfinished business on track."
The titular star of Malcolm in the Middle from 2000-06, Muniz amassed major film credits as a young actor in My Dog Skip, Big Fat Liar and the Agent Cody Banks series.
He pressed pause on acting in 2008 to drive in the open-wheel Atlantic Championship and picked up stock car racing in recent years, qualifying for two races in 2024 on the Xfinity Series, which will be known as the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2026.
Muniz's best finish in 25 career Truck Series starts was a 10th-place showing at Daytona International Speedway in the 2025 season opener. A wrist injury sidelined him for four races later in the season.
--Field Level Media
