His dejected girlfriend informed him that a drag racer who had appeared on a well-known reality TV program had perished in a horrific vehicle crash.
On Saturday night in southwest Texas, Nathan Schaldach, known as Cali Nate on the Discovery series Street Outlaws, crashed. His girlfriend, Courtney Paulshock, confirmed his passing in a tragic Facebook post, calling him her “soul mate.”
“I’m not whole,” she wrote on Sunday. “I’m completely shocked. I feel like my heart is breaking.”
According to Paulshock, the crash occurred while Schaldach was racing at Eagle Pass, about two hours west of San Antonio. Despite his friends’ efforts to get him to the hospital, they could not save him. Paulshock declined to provide further details about the crash or the events leading up to it.
“Seeing his mom and sister again made him so happy,” she said. “Outside, he pursued his passions. To know the kind of love that Nathan gave me and showed me daily was a true blessing.”
Schaldach appeared in the fourth season of Street Outlaws: Fastest in America, which followed eight drag racing teams competing for a $100,000 prize. His season concluded in May of last year. The current program was inspired by the original Street Outlaws, which featured daring street racers risking their lives.
Drag racing involves two cars racing on a short, straight track toward a finish line. Despite the general safety of professional drag racing, street racing is extremely dangerous and is outlawed in most jurisdictions. In 2022, Ryan Fellows, another actor on Street Outlaws, died in a car accident while filming. Schaldach’s death follows Fellows’ tragic incident.
The U.S. Sun has contacted Texas police for further details about Nate’s collision.
Online, Schaldach’s friends and admirers expressed their sorrow and condolences. Chris Frank, a friend of Schaldach’s, claimed he barely slept after hearing the awful news.
“Those of you who raced him feared him, and those of you who were friends with him loved him,” Frank said in a Facebook video. “We all know that any ride could be our last, and every race is dangerous. Nate was one of the last genuine racers with a true love and understanding for the sport.”
In one of her saddest farewell messages, Paulshock promised Schaldach she would love him forever. She shared a screenshot of a text exchange where he had written, “Garth told me to tell you I love you very much just in case tomorrow never comes.” This was his final race.
“Please wake me up from this nightmare,” Paulshock wrote. She also shared Lady Gaga’s song “I’ll Never Love Again” from the film A Star Is Born later that day.
