Most actors spend their post-sitcom years chasing the next big role. Frankie Muniz spent his chasing checkered flags at 180 miles per hour.

Now he's doing both.

The former child star is returning to television in a "Malcolm in the Middle" revival, according to the New York Times — all while maintaining his career as a NASCAR driver and raising his young son. At 40, Muniz seems determined to prove that the word "lane" doesn't apply to him, professionally or literally.

"I have unfinished business," Muniz told the Times about reprising his role as the brilliant, scheming middle child who made him a household name in the early 2000s.

It's a curious statement from someone who walked away from Hollywood at the height of his fame to pursue professional race car driving, then later opened a specialty olive oil shop in Arizona. Most people would consider a seven-season run on a beloved sitcom pretty finished. But Muniz has never been most people.

The original "Malcolm in the Middle" ended in 2006, when Muniz was barely 20. He'd spent his teenage years on soundstages instead of in high school hallways, becoming one of the most recognizable faces on television. Then he disappeared — not into obscurity, but into a series of unlikely second acts that had nothing to do with acting.

Racing came first. Then came the memory issues he's spoken about publicly, the result of multiple concussions and mini-strokes that left gaps in his recollection of filming the show that defined his youth. Perhaps "unfinished business" means something different when you can't fully remember the first time around.

What's striking isn't just that Muniz is returning to Malcolm, but that he's doing it on his own terms — squeezing table reads between race weekends, presumably. He's built a life that doesn't depend on Hollywood's approval, which might be the only way to return to it without desperation creeping in.

The revival doesn't have a release date yet, but somewhere, a middle child is getting exactly what they deserve: another chance to be seen.