Frankie Muniz commits to a full-time ARCA Menards Series season

Frankie Muniz, best known as the star of the television comedy Malcolm in the Middle, committed to a full season in the ARCA Menards Series, a stock car championship that serves as a development step toward NASCAR's national series. The move came around the start of 2024.

Muniz began racing professionally in 2019, after years of interest in motorsport that he had spoken about publicly. He worked his way up through lower-level and regional categories before reaching ARCA, where he competed against drivers who had spent much of their lives in the sport.

The step mattered because it turned what many viewed as a celebrity side project into a full-time racing effort. A full-season schedule meant regular appearances at major tracks, including superspeedways such as Daytona, where cars run in tight packs at high speed and crashes can involve many drivers. It also gave Muniz a steady platform to build experience and pursue a longer-term goal of moving further up NASCAR's ladder.