Malcolm's now in the driver's seat

Linda McAvoy

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

It's understandable if you have difficulty picturing Frankie Muniz as anything other than Malcolm in the Middle, the child genius who, over the course of seven television seasons, grew up amidst an amusing but dysfunctional sitcom family.

These days, however, the 21-year old Muniz would prefer people think of him not as an actor but rather as a professional race car driver – something that's easy to do once you've seen him motoring around a race track at 170 km/h.

An invitation to participate in the 2004 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race (which he won the following year) kick-started his fascination with racing.

"I had an amazing time and knew from that moment on that I wanted to be involved with racing in some way. And here I am a few years later racing in Champ Car Atlantic," marveled Muniz during a recent interview.

After signing a two-year deal with Jensen Motorsport Team, the rookie driver participated in last year's Formula BMW USA series. This season's schedule has him racing in the U.S. and Canada, including driving the streets of Toronto at next weekend's Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto.

Q: I understand you have somewhat of a car collection.

A: I really wouldn't even call it a collection, it kind of got called a collection because I've had so many different cars in my life. But you know, I don't really collect cars, I've just got cars I liked and drove them around and then sold them. But I've actually sold most of my cars now. I have a 1964 Chevy El Camino and a Mercedes Benz E63. That's it right now.

Q: What was your first car ever?

A: My first car ever: I bought the actual Jetta that was in The Fast and The Furious, the movie they did a few years ago. I got the actual car they used in that.

Q: That had a few toys on it, right?

A: Yeah it had a lot of stuff on it, TVs and PlayStations, and all that kind of stuff in it. It was pretty cool. I still own it actually. It's in a museum or something now.

Q: Who taught you to drive?

A: My mother was always with me in the car. When you get your learner's permit, you have to drive with a parent or somebody over 25, so it was my mom. But I wouldn't really consider her teaching me, she never, like, told me anything specific. We kind of just got in the car and (I) started driving and taught myself.

Q: What car did you learn to drive in?

A: In my Jetta.

Q: So you owned the car before you had your licence?

A: Yeah, I owned the car first before I learned to drive. But I got a Lotus Esprit V8 Twin Turbo and that was the first car I learned how to drive a stick in. I actually had this race-car driver who was in Vancouver for the Vancouver Grand Prix; he taught me how to drive a stick in that car. Which was not very fun because the Lotus is like the hardest clutch to drive in the world.

Q: Do you have any other type of licence?

A: I do have a motorcycle licence; I got it a few months ago. That's my new thing. I love driving a motorcycle around now, it's so much fun.

Q: So do you have a motorcycle?

A: I have one, a 2007 Triumph Thruxton, which I really like a lot.

Q: Are your personal vehicles coddled or cluttered, filthy or flawless?

A: My cars are – there's not anything in them. I keep my cars so clean. Like, if there's one item in my car, I consider it to be a mess. I totally keep them very clean. I'm super, super psycho about keeping my cars nice 'cause I love my cars more than anything so I make sure I keep them in perfect condition.

Q: Gearhead or haven't got a clue?

A: I've learned a lot about the mechanics of how a car works since I've been racing but I couldn't fix anything or take anything apart, or anything like that. Being a driver, you have to be able to tell the engineers how the car feels, but I wouldn't really know how to fix it. I'm learning more and more every week, but I wouldn't call myself a gearhead.

Q: Finish this sentence: I'm a pretty good driver but I do have a habit of _______?

A: I have a habit of tailgating.

Q: What's your pet peeve of other drivers?

A: Nobody knows how to drive. Not that they're slow, but nobody pays enough attention. Everyone complains in L.A., the traffic is so bad. So everyone complains that nobody can go.

Q: Any tickets or haven't been caught yet?

A: I have got a lot of tickets, actually. For speeding, not stopping at stop signs all the way, all that kind of stuff. But they've never been anything serious.

Q: What option on a car could you not do without?

A: Definitely navigation, now. Once you get a car with a navigation system, it's really weird to get a car that doesn't have it, because you just really rely on being able to put in an address and it tell you where to go. It's weird to have to write down directions or look up directions online before you go somewhere.

Q: Best day on the road?

A: One day I decided I was going to drive to Tulsa, Oklahoma to visit some friends, and I was by myself. I was in my Range Rover and I was just cruising and it was just really nice. Driving through Arizona was really pretty. I like driving by myself, just because it gives me a lot of time to think and just kind of relax. I really like that.

Q: Worst day on the road?

A: Any day in Los Angeles driving, the traffic is so bad. To go to the grocery store, it's basically less than a mile from our house but it still takes, like, 10 minutes, which is pretty ridiculous.

Q: I thought you might have said the day you got punked. (Thanks to Ashton Kutcher's show Punk'd, Muniz was led to believe that his 1956 Porsche Speedster had been stolen.)

A: Yeah that was bad, but it wasn't real, so ...

Q: During your acting career, were there any car-related incidents?

A: I got to drive a Ferrari Dino in the Cody Banks movie, and I didn't know how to drive a stick then, and so that was pretty hard.

Q: Are you discounting acting totally for the future?

A: Well, I'm only 21 years old so I can't say forever. But any time within the next, I'd say, three years, I don't see anything happening because the amount of time I have to put into this (racing) is a lot.

Q: What about the physical requirements for racing?

A: Racing is extremely physical. I train with a trainer every day. You have to be super, super fit; our heart rates are at basically 180 beats per minute the entire time you're driving the car, and our races are about an hour long. It's a lot of work. A lot of people don't call race car drivers athletes but, really, more than I think any sport, drivers are athletes.

Q: How do other drivers treat you – after all, you are famous and new to the sport?

A: At first, I think they thought it was kind of odd. They didn't really respect the fact I was a real driver. But, you know, the only way to prove yourself is by your performance, and I think I've been performing really well, so they can't think I'm not capable of being there. It's been nice.

Q: Is there anything in particular, any skills, you're working on?

A: The only way to become a really good race car driver is to be in races, to experience it, so I'm just trying to get as much seat time as possible and I've come a really long way in a super short time. I'm racing against drivers who have been racing since they were five, six, seven years old, and I've been racing for 16 months and I'm competitive.

Q: If you could choose any race to drive in professionally, is there something on your wish list?

A: Well I've kind of been fulfilling my wish list right now with being in Champ Car. I love racing. But definitely to be in a Formula One race would be incredible. To race in Monte Carlo or something like that would be awesome, but we'll see what happens in the future.

Muniz will be racing in the Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto July 6-8 and the Grand Prix of Edmonton July 20-22.

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