Frankie Muniz, best known for his role in “Malcolm In The Middle”, has achieved a lifelong “dream” by securing a full-time spot in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

At 38, Muniz is joining Reaume Broth Racing and will be behind the wheel of the No. 33 Ford next season, following part-time stints in the Truck and Xfinity series this year. Despite being a former child star and the focus of one of America’s most beloved TV shows, Muniz insists he will continue acting but admits that he has devoted his life to reaching the pinnacle of motorsport.

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

Muniz began his professional racing career shortly after “Malcolm In The Middle” ended in 2006, spending three seasons competing in the open-wheel series, the Atlantic Championship from 2007-09.

More recently, he held a full-time seat with Rette Jones Racing in the ARCA Menards series in 2023, finishing fourth in the championship after one top-five and nine top-10s.

This year, he debuted in the Xfinity and Truck series, including his first outing at Daytona International Speedway. With four races across both series under his belt, his best finish so far is 29th place.

Frankie Muniz will race full-time in the Craftsman Truck Series next season ( 

Image:

Getty)

Muniz acknowledges he has “a lot to prove to myself and to everybody”, but he’s confident in the years of work he’s put in to secure a full-time NASCAR seat.

“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 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. Watching tape, watching past races at the racetracks I’m going to just to be as prepared as humanly possible.”