When you are planning to make a left turn, sometimes, life hands you a right turn.
That was the case for me this week. I was planning to do a story on the Aberdeen husband-wife racing team of Mike and Nichole Sobolik. Each has full-time jobs, and each were trying to squeeze in a second full-time summer job of racing their own car each week. I did the interview, and wrote the story last week. My American News teammate, John Davis, took a great photo.
Another story done, and on to the next one. Then my phone rang this week.
It was Nichole, the 38-year-old Brown County Speedway rookie who had a handful of races under her belt. She was racing a white, red-lettered No. 99 Pure Stock while her racing veteran husband, Mike, was behind the wheel of a white, red-lettered No. 99 Super Stock.
It was a great story, but there was a problem. Nichole hurt her back, and has to stop racing.
After I hung up, I felt bad for me. Quickly, I felt especially bad for Nichole. And then I almost started to cry when I thought of Mike.
Here is the deal. When I went to do the interviews, I figured it would be a story about a husband and wife who raced. However, the story took a turn when Mike explained to me how much it meant to him to pass his racing passion down to someone he loves.
A Twin Cities (Bloomington) native, Mike has raced off-and-on for many years. He grew up watching racing legends such as No. 99 Dick Trickle, Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt and the Pettys in their early years at the famed Elko (Minn.) Speedway.
"I love racing, but I want to help Nichole get started, so our main focus for now will be on her," Mike told me last week. "If I get to race every other weekend, I am fine with that. I have had my fun. A lot of drivers are second- or third-generation. This is my way of passing along something I love to someone I love. It has been so fun to watch her out there. I am really proud of her."
So the focus of the story that I was going to tell you last week was going to be mostly on Nichole. Here was the first few paragraphs of that story I wrote last week:
If you see Albert and Marilyn Erdmann of Leola in the stands at the Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen some Friday night, give them a calm, encouraging, 'it will be OK' pat on the back.
Their little girl has gone from auto racing fan to driver at age 38. "The first night I drove, I was expecting to see the ambulance come to take away my mom in the stands," joked daughter and Brown County Speedway rookie Nichole Sobolik of Aberdeen. "I thought for sure she would have a heart attack. I am sure they were more nervous than I was."
Nichole's mentor is her husband, Mike, a life-long racing fan and driver. He joked that he is not sure that his in-laws are ever going to forgive him for helping their daughter to get behind the wheel of her white No. 99 Pure Stock. "But we got her a good, sturdy car so she will be fine," Mike said.
"It is a lot harder than it looks from the stands," Nichole said of her new hobby. "Even though this is the slowest of the classes, things happen on the track a lot faster than you think they would. You have to have good reactions, and the laps and a race go by so quick. It is completely different than what I thought it would be."
Nichole said she has gone through a range of emotions. "Scary, nerve-wracking, exciting all rolled into one. "The first time I went out there, my heart was just pounding. But it gets a little less scary each time. I have learned a lot already from just the few races that I have had."
"I am just learning the track and how to race. Even though it is a little bit different experience every time you go out there, I feel like I am improving. I just need more seat time."
Seat time, unfortunately for Nichole, that will not be coming.
If I were to re-write this story with the new information, it would be mostly on Mike. In the past, he had offered to pass his racing legacy on to his two daughters. But they had other interests.
He was just beaming at the thought of wife, Nichole, becoming a race car driver. He had lots of knowledge to pass along, such as when Nichole told Mike after one of her first races that she was being bumped from behind by another driver until she moved over and the driver got around her.
"I just told her not to move over," Mike said with a laugh. "It is not all about the driving, there are a lot of head games going on out there. We are all one big racing family, but drivers are very competitive when they get on the track. Some people are
going to try to intimidate Nichole, but she is tough and she will learn from it."
For Mike, this season was supposed to be all about Nichole. Even though she got to fulfill a racing challenge most of us will continue to only dream about, I can't help but feel a little sad for Mike.
I hope Nichole and her back will be OK. And my hope for Mike?
Well, he does have four grandchildren, and maybe one of them will get behind the wheel of a race car one day.
John Papendick is the managing news-sports editor for the American News: jpapendick@aberdeennews.com.
Twitter: @jpapendick