Veteran Bowman Gray Stadium racer Robbie Brewer died on Saturday night following a medical emergency while racing in the Sportsman Division at the venerable Winston-Salem, North Carolina bullring.
As detailed to Short Track Scene by sources, Brewer suffered a heart attack while racing and crashed hard in Turn 4 with four laps to go on a restart in the first of two division races on Saturday night. Coming to the green flag, Brewer never made the left hand turn and bounced off the wall in Turns 3 and 4 and careened towards the field.
Safety workers needed to remove the roof of his car to extricate Brewer and he was taken to a nearby hospital.
Brewer had 11 victories in the Sportsman division and is its 2011 champion. He earned four of those victories in 2015, his best campaign at the track, a career full of experiences and triumphs.
He had 311 total starts at Bowman Gray Stadium — 24 in a Tour Type Modified, 259 in a Sportsman and 28 in Stadium Stock. His track debut came on June 2, 1990 in the Stadium Stock division.
He also raced Modifieds throughout the Carolinas in a variety of divisions and sanctioning bodies.
This is the fifth time a driver has died while racing at the quarter mile bullring. As detailed by streaming partner FloRacing:
“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.”
UPDATE; Track statement
“We are saddened by the passing of Robbie Brewer after he was transported to an area medical facility following an on-track medical incident during last night’s event at Bowman Gray Stadium. Robbie was a talented and passionate racer, and highly respected competitor among his peers. Our thoughts and prayers are with Robbie’s family and friends at this time.”
