"I became a big Jeff Gordon fan": Frankie Muniz reveals the pivotal moment when the NASCAR Hall of Famer became his favorite driver 

In an episode of the Dale Jr Download Reloaded podcast, actor-turned-driver, Frankie Muniz revealed how Jeff Gordon became his favorite NASCAR driver. Gordon, a four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, is currently the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports.

Muniz did an episode of Spin City with Gordon when he was about 10 or 11. He played the role of a sick kid. Gordon walked into the room, and an encounter between the two followed. Recalling the same, Muniz said,

"I did an episode of Spin City and it was with Jeff Gordon. I played a sick kid in the hospital and he came in saying how he was gonna win these races for me and you know, all this...It was a funny skit. So I met him when I was maybe 10 or 11...I don't know if I'm allowed to say that in this building but I became a big Jeff Gordon fan just because he was always nice to me."

Here is a short clip of the episode which aired on November 17, 1998:

Muniz was best known for playing the title character in a FOX sitcom called "Malcolm in the Middle". Besides that, Muniz appeared in movies like Deuces Wild (2002), Big Fat Liar (2002), Agent Cody Banks (2003), and Racing Stripes (2005).

Muniz won the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race in 2005. In 2007, he took to open-wheel racing when he ran the Atlantic Championship with Jensen MotorSport, Pacific Coast Motorsports, and Team Stargate Worlds.

Last year, Muniz joined Rette Jones Racing for a full season in the ARCA Menards Series and finished fourth on points at the end of the season. As of today, he competes part-time for Joey Gase Motorsports in the Xfinity Series and Reaume Brothers Racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

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Frankie Muniz explains how his full-time NASCAR deal might affect his acting career

Frankie Muniz is expected to do a full-time schedule in the Truck Series next year. The 38-year-old New Jersey native recently announced that he would be driving the #33 Ford F-150 for Reaume Brothers Racing.

But could this affect Muniz's career as an actor? Speaking of which, in an interview with Dustin Long of NBC Sports, Muniz said,

"My focus is 100% being a race car driver. There are gaps, there are things, but I’m not trying to fill them with other things. You know, obviously you don’t know what’s going to happen. As an actor you have no idea what opportunity may come up where you go, 'Hey it’s a week, we have three weeks off, yeah let me do it.' "

"So, I’m not closing the door 100% to it but I don’t want people to think, oh I’m just doing this part-time, I’m just doing it as a hobby, I’m kinda doing it on the side," Muniz further explained. "No, those three weeks are going to be used to prep for the next six races that are in a row or whatever it may be."

Due to mechanical issues in his truck, Muniz finished 33rd on Saturday's Truck Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He will be competing in the Championship race at Phoenix Raceway on November 9.