I did not know Kevin Gobrecht personally but I know that my parents were close to him. I remember one night when my mom called me from the races and told me that she had new help in the WoO souvenir trailer and that it was Kevin Gobrecht's girlfriend Bobbi Meyers. I knew Kevin by name and had seen him many a time when I took a tour of the pits with Stevie but I had never gotten the chance to get to know him and talk to him...that I regret. I remember the night that we received the call that told us that Kevin had passed on. My parents had come home to watch the Homecoming game against our school biggest rival. It was unusual that my parents were able to be home for Friday night games due to the fact that my dad's presence was required at all of the races (he is the competition director for WoO) but there was an exception this time. I remember my mom telling me that they had received a call long after I had went to bed telling them that Kevin had passed on. There are few times that can recall seeing both of my parents cry but I remember seeing the tears silently rolling down their faces that next day when they told me, I think that it hit my dad the hardest. Though I had never gotten to know Kevin I felt my heart breaking, for I knew what a great loss this was. My dad was required to fly out to Nebraska the next day to inspect the car and determine what had caused the death of this rising star and to figure out what could be done to make sure that something like this never happened again. I think that this was one of the hardest things that my father has ever had to do. My mom called me that day to tell me that Bobbi had asked her to help clean out the motor home and go with to meet Kevin's parents at the airport. She told me that while cleaning out the motor home there were times when Bobbi would just stop while holding something that had been Kevin's and just cry. After I got off the phone that night I sat down and cried for the first time. I realized that to me Kevin Gobrecht was just a racer, but to some people he was everything and I couldn't imagine what it must be like to have your whole world turned upside down in one night. Ted had decided to hire Bobbi on to help in the trailer for the rest of the season. I know that must have been hard for her continuing the lifestyle that her and Kevin had once shared, but maybe it helped her to feel close to him still. When my parents arrived home after that swing my mom and I went out to eat and we had taken the Blazer (which was the official pace car for WoO). I was in the car waiting for my mom to come out. When she got to the blazer she got in and just sat there a minute with tears in her eyes threatening to spill over. When I asked her what was wrong all she said was I think I just saw a ghost. I didn't press her any further at the time but when we arrived home I asked her what she had meant by that and as we were walking in the house she showed me how the Blazer still had the G-Man stickers on the side. I felt tears come to my eyes as I looked at those stickers.

I remember my mom and I talking about how Bobbi and Kevin had started looking at engagement rings shortly before he was killed. They had planned on getting married that November in Las Vegas. At the end of the season my parents came home for the winter and there wasn't much else said about Kevin's death. Then one February day my mom informed me that Bobbi would come to stay with us and travel with us in the summer.

Over the next six months I got to know Bobbi rather well and considered her a kind of older sister. I remember one day we were sitting in the kitchen and somehow we got on the subject of her and Kevin and I inquired as to how her and Kevin met. After I got the question out I regretted it, I knew the wounds were still fresh and felt that I was wrong to ask, but Bobbi told me the story. I still remember the look in her eyes as she recalled all the fond memories that they had shared and I knew that though it hurt her, the memories of Kevin brought her great happiness also.

Then she started to tell me about the night that Kevin had been killed. She told me how she had been working in the trailer that night and had went up on to of to watch Kevin race. Every person who is involved with or knows someone who races knows that it is bad luck to wear green to the race track and Bobbi told me that she had wore green that night....I remember how she looked when she told me that. She told me how she can still hear the cars and she can still see Kevin's car as it flipped, as she recalled all of this it just broke my heart. I knew that it was probably good for her to talk about all of it but I felt so bad. After we had finished our talk I went up to my room and laid on my bed and cried again. As soon as school let out for the summer I went to join my parents on the road. I worked in the trailer with my mom and Bobbi. We sold Kevin's memorial shirts and stickers in the trailer that summer. There were times when it all became just too much for Bobbi and she would go up into the office. At times like these we all just let her be...but there were times when I would go up to use the restroom and find her there crying. I would go over to her and wrap my arms around her and just let her cry. There was one time when she looked up at me with tears rolling down her cheeks and just said It still hurts so much...at that time I just broke down. We both sat there crying, her over her loss and me for the pain it caused her.

Bobbi had a little pug named Senna that Kevin had gotten and they had named after a racer that had been killed...to me that dog was all that she had left of Kevin in this world. She took him everywhere with her and he never let her out of his sight. I think that Senna helped Bobbi get through that whole terrible ordeal, he helped her deal with the loss of her love.

I know that Kevin was a great man though I never knew him personally I got to know him through Bobbi. What I learned from her as well as other people was that he was a sweet and caring man, it mattered not if you were his best friend or a total stranger he treated you with kindness and warmth that is rare to find in many people. His smile brightened up many people's lives and he had a great impact on so many, even those who had never had the chance to meet him. He will be missed by many and I know we will never forget him. For all of us with the World of Outlaws this loss is like the loss of a family member. He was a wonderful man and a very talented driver who accomplished so much. Given the opportunity I know that he could have become one of the greatest drivers sprint car racing has ever seen.

We love you G-Man! God Speed!


On a prayer in a song
I hear your voice
and it keeps me hanging on
raining down
against the wind
I'm reaching out
till we reach the circles end
and you come back to me again
When You Come Back to Me Again
By: Garth Brooks

Kevin came to us straight from heaven above,
Though his stay seemed short we all felt his love.
He brightened your day just with one smile,
He made everything seem so much worth while.
He was a person who took life as it came,
But he also knew that life was no game.
When God took him back so many of us cried,
We all asked God why such a great man had died.
Kevin's race has ended the checkered he took,
From heaven above over us he will look.
Time heals all wounds but memories stay,
We'll keep him in our hearts throughout every day.
We all love you Kevin and we'll never forget you!

Stacey Jackson