Attending all 36 NASCAR Cup Series points races in a single season was something Chris Kalnins figured he’d do eventually — just not now. Maybe someday, after he had a family and retired, Kalnins could buy an RV and follow NASCAR around the country for a season.

But when his marriage fell apart late last year and Kalnins realized he’d lost the passion for his job as a financial advisor, the 29-year-old suddenly realized the time was now: He would travel the country by himself for one season and hit the entire NASCAR schedule in the process.

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“I had the opportunity to reset my life,” Kalnins said.

So with just weeks to spare before the start of the 2022 NASCAR season, Kalnins bought a black 2019 Chevy Silverado with a six-and-a-half-foot bed, watched YouTube videos on how to maximize the space inside and got to work on building his new home.

Literally.

When Kalnins and his ex-wife sold their house in the process of the divorce, it did two things: First, the windfall from the housing boom left Kalnins with enough funding to quit his job and hit the road for an entire NASCAR season; second, it required him to downsize his life from a 1,800-square-foot house to a 30-square-foot truck bed.

Kalnins figured building his living space inside the truck would be a day-long project; instead, it took a month. Eventually, he ended up with a three-inch foam mattress that sits atop a piece of plywood propped up by two-by-fours with enough room for some storage underneath. There’s even enough headroom where he can sit up in bed and work on his laptop when needed (the logistics of traveling for a season require advance ticket purchases, research on the best places to park at night and touristy stops to make in between races).

There are blackout curtains to block both the sun and anyone who might want to peek inside. If someone did see Kalnins’ setup, they’d find his bed, laundry bin, a two-panel solar generator to help keep his phone and computer charged at night, a two-burner stove (on which he cooks eggs, burgers and hot dogs) plus a large Yeti cooler that needs regular additions of ice (he has no refrigerator).

A Milwaukee resident until the road trip adventure, Kalnins set out for Daytona Beach in February and then drove to Southern California for the Fontana race. But to that point, he had only taken vacation from his job; Kalnins hadn’t actually pulled the trigger on quitting, because he wasn’t positive if he was truly up for what seemed like a daunting experience.

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“I wasn’t sure if I was mentally going to be able to do it,” he said. “Honestly, when you go through something as emotional as (a divorce), sometimes it just isn’t the right time to do it. But I pushed through it, and I don’t regret it at all.”

By the time Las Vegas came around as the third race of the season, Kalnins was sure of his intentions. So on the Monday after Fontana, he flew to Milwaukee, quit his job that Tuesday and flew back to the West Coast on Wednesday to resume his trek.

It’s largely been smooth sailing, outside of a couple unsettling moments. During one early-season weekend, for example, two drunk men could be heard outside the truck at 3 a.m.; one of the men told the other he wanted a Silverado and knocked loudly on the window to emphasize his point.

Of course, they didn’t realize Kalnins was sleeping inside.

“To have somebody do that was quite jarring,” he said.

Sleeping has been a difficult task in general. Kalnins has no air conditioning running inside the truck (though he does have a couple small fans), so the summer has presented challenges. Even at the Texas Motor Speedway weekend several weeks ago, temperatures were in the high 90s during the day and only dipped into the high 70s at night.

Kalnins has tried to time-shift his day in order to go to sleep after 10 p.m. (he regularly hits the gym for workouts and showers at night) and then hopes temperatures have cooled enough to rest. But that often hasn’t been the case.

So how does he sleep in those conditions?

“I really don’t,” he said.

On the other hand, some of the fall temperatures like at Talladega have left him shivering at night. He’s shown up to some races wearing jeans and long-sleeve shirts while other fans wear shorts because he’s still trying to get warm.

But that’s all part of the process, he said.

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“It’s a lot,” he said. “There’s no one else out here who is going to push you along. You have to be a self-starter to get through the grind of the drives and being by yourself. You have to be really OK and comfortable with who you are to do that. But it does get lonely.”

All that time has given Kalnins plenty of opportunity to reflect. There are only so many podcasts to listen to and so much music on the radio before his thoughts about life and the future creep in.

He tries not to think too far ahead, because he doesn’t want to rob himself of living in the moment with the experience he’s currently enjoying.

“If I let myself do that, I’m going to regret it five or 10 years down the line,” he said. “So I’m really trying to appreciate everything that’s going on.”

But with only four weeks remaining in his journey, the end is certainly looming and left him hopeful for a new opportunity. Kalnins has learned plenty about the ins and outs of navigating race weekends at various tracks — whether that’s where to camp, what makes the best fan zones and amenities, or even where to sit at each venue. Ideally, Kalnins said, he’d like to work for NASCAR and help with fan engagement.

In the meantime, there are more races to attend. After the Charlotte Roval, he drove to South Florida and flew to Las Vegas instead of driving (because it’s such a short turnaround between Vegas and the Homestead-Miami Speedway race next week). Then he’ll drive from Miami to Martinsville, Va., and hopes the parking lots there will clear quickly enough to start the drive to Phoenix that Sunday night.

After all, there’s no time to waste if Kalnins wants to arrive in time for the Truck Series championship race on Friday (he attends all the Truck and Xfinity races on Cup weekends).

Kalnins has documented his journey on social media and hopes to find a way to help others who might want to follow in his footsteps (there’s no guide online for attemping such a feat aside from the general “van life” content). For example: Talladega has free camping, which makes life easy; Daytona doesn’t have many places to park in general, although he learned Cracker Barrels offer free parking for 24 hours.

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As for the racetracks themselves, Kalnins buys tickets on his phone (since he doesn’t have a mailing address) and isn’t getting any special perks or even much acknowledgment despite his dedication and spending thousands of dollars this year. Kalnins had hoped to use his Instagram and TikTok accounts to show the in-depth experience at each track as sort of a guide for others who might not have traveled to those venues, and he reached out in advance to many racetracks. But most, he said, “have not been very receptive of it, quite frankly.”

On the plus side, Kalnins was featured on the FS1 pre-race show at the spring Kansas race (Michael Waltrip visited the Silverado and even climbed inside on camera to lie on the bed) and Road America gave him full access for social media purposes.

Kalnins has pushed himself to try and meet people along the way, and some are now what he described as lifelong friends who will join him at races when they’re in the area. He typically doesn’t wear driver apparel to the races, but prefers rooting for the underdogs and has a particular affinity for Kaulig Racing (Kalnins described himself as “over the moon” when Kaulig’s Justin Haley got third-place finishes at Darlington and Texas this season).

Many of those he’s met have told Kalnins their dream is to do all the races, just like he is. But after a nearly complete journey, Kalnins said it would take a particular type of person and situation to be able to pull it off.

His advice to those who are serious about the adventure: “Don’t wait — because if you wait, you’re probably not going to ever do it.”

A month from now, the season will be over and Kalnins will likely drive back to Milwaukee, where his parents live. Then he’ll figure out what to do next.

But being on the road and following NASCAR for the past eight months has made this much clear: He can’t go back to his old life and be satisfied.

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“This was a lot of change and very difficult for me to manage, but I’m so glad I did this,” he said. “I didn’t let the fear overcome me, and now I’m at the point where I know I need to find something else that is going to put me in a completely uncomfortable position.”

Whatever that entails, he said, “I’ll probably be more happy doing it than I was before.”

(Top photo: Courtesy of Chris Kalnins)

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