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Bowman Gray Stadium Robbie Brewer dies at 53

STS sends love and condolences to the community

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.”

Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.

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