Frankie Muniz Acknowledges to Fox & Friends His Joining NASCAR’s ARCA Menards Series is Like ‘Throwing Myself Off the Deep End’

Actor Frankie Muniz told Fox & Friends that he understands the heavy learning curve ahead after he announced that he is going to be a full-time NASCAR driver.

On Wednesday, Muniz announced he’ll be racing in NASCAR’s ARCA Menards Series.

The former child star’s most notable role was Malcolm on the hit show Malcolm In The Middle. On Friday morning, Muniz, who was at Daytona International Speedway for a test session, joined Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends and told the hosts he actually raced for five years previously, but retired for other ventures. He added that he knows there’s a steep learning curve ahead in his new racing career.

“It’s something I wanted for a long time,” Muniz said. “I actually did race cars professionally from 2006 into 2010, but I took a long 10-12 year break and realized I’m not getting any younger, and if I want to reach my goal of racing in NASCAR, now’s the time.”

After co-host Pete Hegseth asked what preparation Muniz undertook to make the jump into one of NASCAR’s premier series, the actor-turned-racecar driver explained that cars he raced in the mid-to-late 2000s were not comparable to the beasts of NASCAR.

“I started racing late models to get as much stock car experience as possible, raced on ovals because all the racing I did before was completely different,” Muniz added.

Muniz explained that the cars he raced were light, open-wheeled, and raced on road courses with left and right turns, as opposed to the heavy, bulky stock cars of NASCAR.

“I have a lot to learn, steep learning curve,” Muniz continued. “I’m really kinda throwing myself off the deep end a little bit racing in the ARCA Series. It’s a very high level of racing in stock cars. All my competitors have been doing it for a very long time, but in that sense, I feel like I’m ready, and I’m going to try my best and learn as quickly as possible.”

The actor admitted there were different accomplishments in his life he achieved. After he had his son, Mauz, he wants to try to succeed at something his son can look up to, so Muniz picked racing.

“Most people would want to slow down after they had a kid,” Muniz said. “But in my sense, I wanted have something he looked at me trying to achieve and reaching that goal, and hopefully that motivates him as he grows up.”

He added that he received “positive” reactions from his competitors.

Muniz attended the 2001 Daytona 500, where NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt was killed in a last-lap crash.

Watch above via Fox News Channel.