Hollywood star Frankie Muniz discusses mindset | Sports News

An Emmy and Golden Globe nominee, the star of his own TV show, and the lead in a in style film franchise, from the surface wanting in, Frankie Muniz had no discernible purpose to stroll away from Hollywood, and but, that is precisely what he did.

After the much-loved sequence ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ got here to an finish in 2006, it didn’t take long for Muniz to show his consideration to a different ardour in racing. Having beforehand competed in two Toyota Pro/Celebrity Races, he went on to compete professionally in Formula BMW in addition to Champ Car, till a nasty crash in 2009 introduced his racing profession to an abrupt halt.

Fast ahead to 2021, and Muniz made the choice to return to racing, this time within the stock car world. Now a full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver for Reaume Brothers Racing, the 39-year-old not too long ago opened up on what drove his choice to return to the monitor, with the ‘Agent Cody Banks’ star telling fellow driver Corey LaJoie that it was all due to his son, Mauz.

“I raced to 2009, all open wheel stuff. I got really badly hurt in 2009. I broke my back at Mid-Ohio, basically ripped my thumb off, like just exploded the joint. Had pins put in it,” he defined on the ‘Stacking Pennies‘ podcast.

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After recovering, Muniz turned his consideration to different tasks, that was till the arrival of Mauz. “It wasn’t until my son was born in 2021 and, as cheesy as it may sound, I was holding him in the hospital, the day he was born, and I had this weird thought of, ‘Who is my son going to grow up thinking that his dad is?’ Because all I had ever done…I had a lot of success, but it was in my past, right?” he mentioned.

“I used to be an actor. I used to race cars. I used to do this or own these businesses, whatever it was. And I decided right in that moment that I wanted to go back racing because I felt like I had unfinished business there. 

“And it was the one thing that you can see the work paying off, right? And not that you can dictate your future, but you can with the results or whatever. But I wanted him to see me working really hard for something that’s not easy. 

“And not only did I decide to go back racing, but I was like NASCAR, even though it was so different from everything I had done before. And here I am.”

This problem has taken Muniz on “a roller coaster of emotions,” one which began the SRL Pro Late Model Series earlier than taking up the ARCA Menards Series, the Xfinity Series, and now the Truck Series for his first full-time NASCAR season. 

Muniz’s 2025 season has been an, at instances, extraordinarily difficult one, with quite a few mechanical points in addition to a damaged wrist hampering his progress. That being mentioned, there have been high factors, comparable to a Tenth-place end at Daytona, together with 14th at Michigan.

“This year’s been, like I said, a great learning year again,” Muniz mentioned upon reflection. “I feel like I definitely have had moments this year where I go, ‘Whoa, okay, something that clicked. Now I get it. I wish I could redo this one because I learned so many things during this battle with this guy.’”

With the 2025 season nearing its conclusion, it stays to be seen what Muniz shall be doing subsequent yr. He admitted on the podcast that the final word “dream would be to be in the Cup Series,” though he added that he’s “realistic in the sense that I know it’s going to be really difficult for me to get there at 40 years old.” 

When discussing specifics for 2026, Muniz saved his playing cards tight to his chest, explaining that his initial plan was for a “light schedule,” though that has since drastically modified, now anticipating subsequent season to possible be “way busier.”