A Bowman Gray Stadium racer passed away Saturday night following a medical emergency that led to a crash at the North Carolina short track. Robbie Brewer, of Winston-Salem, NC, who competed in the Sportsman division, crashed hard in the fourth corner coming to a restart. Brewer’s passing was officially announced by his family on Sunday morning.
Sources have told FloRacing that Brewer had a heart attack in the race car, which led to the crash itself.
The incident occurred with four laps remaining in the first of two 20-lap features for the Sportsman division. Brewer’s No. 17 car was scored in the fourth position at the time of the incident. As the field was headed towards the green flag, Brewer’s car veered towards the outside wall in the center of turns three and four. He bounced off the wall and then went nearly head-on into the front-straightaway wall at the exit of turn four.
Track personnel rushed to the aid of Brewer where they removed the roof of his car to extricate him. He was then taken to a nearby hospital.
Brewer is an 11-time winner in the Sportsman ranks at Bowman Gray Stadium and the 2011 division champion. He scored four victories in the 2015 season, his best at the famed quarter-mile. Brewer made 311 career starts at the Stadium with 24 in Modified, 259 in Sportsman and 28 in the Stadium Stock division. His first start came on June 2, 1990 in the Buzzbomber division (now known as the Stadium Stocks) finishing 12th in a field of 22 cars.
Brewer was also known for driving Modifieds throughout the Carolinas, collecting double-digit victories in 602 Modified competition. In 2018 and 2019, he won a staggering 12 times in 21 races on the way to two 602 Modified Tour championships. Brewer also was the 2016 602 Super Limited (Late Model) Series champion.
Brewer’s death was the fifth time a driver has passed away following an incident at the historic Stadium built in 1937. Bernard Fox died as a result of injuries sustained in a Midget racing accident in 1947. In 1950, during NASCAR’s second season at Bowman Gray, 21-year old William Justice died in a fire during a heat race for the Amateur division. In 1958, Billy Myers suffered a heart attack and drove off the track in the North Turn during a Modified race and was later pronounced dead. The most recent fatality came in 2002 when Bubba Beck had a heart attack and drove into the infield during a Modified race striking the infield barrier.
Brewer was a beloved member of the Bowman Gray Racing community for over 35-years driving his familiar Green number-68 car for much of his tenure. On the night of his death he was a part of the Robbins & Lewis family racing stables with Sportsman competitors Dylan Ward, Chase Lewis and Street Stock racers Brad and Emilee Lewis.
“I gave my last fist bump to Robbie last night and told him to give ’em hell. Emilee spoke the last words to him over the radio. Hardest thing I’ve had to do was climb in a car after he was gone, but he would’ve told me to pump them up and get on the wheel,” said Brad Lewis on Facebook. “He was my family. A true man’s man. I’m broken, as most are that he touched through his life. I will never forget you, Robbie. I’ll be driving for you.”
Brewer was 53 years old.
