Robbie Brewer, short track racer, dies after crash in race at Bowman Gray Stadium

Brewer crashed heavily in turn 4 after reportedly suffering a heart attack in his race car

Robbie Brewer, a veteran short track racer in the Carolinas, died Saturday night after a crash while racing in the Sportsman division at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem. He was 53.

Coming to a restart with four laps to go in the first of two 20-lap features for the Sportsman division, Brewer's car never turned on the exit of turn 4, sending him nearly head on into the outside wall at a high rate of speed. According to multiple reports, the crash occurred after Brewer suffered a heart attack in his race car.

Brewer was cut from his car by safety workers and was taken to a local hospital. His family announced his death on Sunday morning.

Brewer was a longtime fixture in the short track scene of the Carolinas. Brewer had 311 total Bowman Gray starts between the track's Sportsman, Tour Type Modified and Stadium Stock divisions, and earned 11 career victories and the 2011 track championship in Sportsman competition.

Brewer also raced across the region in 602 Modified competition, where he collected double-digit victories including 12 wins in 21 races between 2018 and 2019 en route to two 602 Modified Tour championships. Brewer also had a championship in late models, winning the 2016 602 Super Limited Series.

Brewer's death marks the fifth fatality in Bowman Gray Stadium history and first in more than 20 years. The last driver to die in a racing accident at Bowman Gray had been Bubba Beck, who also crashed after suffering a fatal heart attack during a Modified race in June 2002.

Bowman Gray Stadium is one of the oldest and most historic asphalt short tracks in the country, and in 2025 returned to the NASCAR Cup Series schedule for the first time in a half century as the host of the preseason Cook Out Clash. The stadium is also home to the Winston-Salem State University football team.