Actor Turned Racer Frankie Muniz Is No Joke in ARCA Racing Series

As the. child star of the early 2000s TV hit Malcolm in the Middle, Frankie Muniz got plenty of laughs as the title character.

This year, no one’s laughing at Muniz’s foray into the

ARCA Menards Series, where he sits second in the points after 11 of 24 races heading into the Reese’s 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Aug. 11.

Muniz is coming off his first top-five finish of the season for Rette Jones Racing with a fifth-place placing at Michigan International Speedway last weekend. And while he’s yet to lead a lap or win a race, Muniz has been a model of consistency, finishing eight times in the top 10 in his 11 starts.

“I have been craving a top-five finish over the last couple of months. I am glad we were finally able to get the goal accomplished last weekend at Michigan,” said Muniz. “I want more though. I’m excited to go to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park this weekend and contend for back-to-back top-five runs.”

Jesse Love, an 18-year-old phenom who is already in his fourth season racing in the ARCA series, has dominated this year’s field with six wins and holds a commanding 82-point lead over the 37-year-old Muniz in the points chase.

Muniz is also turning heads, despite seeing nearly every racetrack on the schedule for the first time when he rolls into town for the next race.

“Nearly every race has been a challenge for one reason or another, but I believe we have approached the races well and executed them to the best of our ability,” said Muniz. “From superspeedways to intermediate tracks, short tracks and road courses—I’ve embraced it all with an open mind.

“But, if we want to have any shot at this championship, we have to step it up a little. Jesse (Love) though is so good right now and he’ll need to have a little bit of bad luck for us or anyone for that matter to have an impact. That can happen. We’ve seen that happen for both him and us.

“We’ll go to the track this weekend with the same mentality we’ve had for the first 11 races and see what happens when the checkered flag waves on Friday night.”