Robbie Brewer, a short-track racecar driver, died over the weekend after suffering a medical emergency while competing in a race. 

Brewer’s vehicle smashed head-on into a wall at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Saturday night. He was competing in the 20-lap Sportsman Series race, which occurs every weekend across four divisions. 

The car came to a halt near the finish line, and the 53-year-old Brewer was taken out of it after track workers took the roof off. 

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Track crew members rip the roof off of Robbie Brewer’s car to remove him after a medical emergency in the first 20-lap Sportsman Series race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (Walt Unks/The Winston-Salem Journal via AP)

Brewer was rushed to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist hospital, where he eventually died, per the Winston-Salem Journal.

“We are saddened by the passing of Robbie Brewer after he was transported to an area medical facility following an on-track medical incident,” track officials said in a statement on Sunday. 

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“Robbie was a talented and passionate race, and highly respected competitior among his peers. Our thoughts and prayers are with Robbie’s family and friends at this time.”

Details of Brewer’s medical emergency were not disclosed. 

Robbie Brewer’s car skids down the front stretch after a wreck on the restart on lap 16 of the first 20-lap Sportsman Series race at Bowman Gray Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C.  (Walt Unks/The Winston-Salem Journal via AP)

Brad Lewis, a fellow driver at Bowman Gray, said Brewer “was like a big brother to me even though we were not that far apart in age.” Lewis’ race shop was near where Brewer lived.

“He was a wheelman thorugh and through,” Lewis added. “I’m not only going to honor him the rest of the season, but for as long as we race out there. He’ll be missed.”

Brewer has been racing at the track, which served as a preseason NASCAR Cup Series exhibition event back in February, since 1990. 

Track crew work to remove Sportsman Series driver Robbie Brewer from his car after suffering a medical emergency on the restart on lap 16 of the first 20-lap Sportsman Series race at Bowman Gray Stadium, on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (Walt Unks/The Winston-Salem Journal via AP)

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Brewer made almost 260 Sportsman Division starts, and he won the championship in 2011, according to the Winston-Salem Journal. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A veteran stock car driver at a North Carolina short track died over the weekend after suffering a medical emergency while competing in a race, officials said.

Robbie Brewer’s car struck head-on a wall on the quarter-mile (0.40-kilometer) track at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem and came to a stop near the start-finish line.

Track workers peeled away the roof to remove 53-year-old Brewer, and an ambulance took him to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist hospital, after which he died, the Winston-Salem Journal reported.

“We are saddened by the passing of Robbie Brewer after he was transported to an area medical facility following an on-track medical incident,” track officials said Sunday in a statement. “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.”

Details of the medical emergency weren’t released.

Brewer was competing in a 20-lap Sportsman Division race at Bowman Gray, where thousands of racing fans turn out weekly on Saturday nights in the spring and summer for races across four divisions. Bowman Gray also was the locale for this year’s preseason NASCAR Cup Series exhibition event in early February.

Brewer’s first career start at the oval came in 1990, and he made nearly 260 starts in the Sportsman Division, winning the points championship in 2011, the newspaper reported.

Fellow Bowman Gray driver Brad Lewis, whose race shop is near where Brewer lived, said Brewer “was like a big brother to me even though we were not that far apart in age.”

“He was a wheelman through and through,” Lewis said. “I’m not only going to honor him the rest of the season but for as long as we race out there. He’ll be missed.”

In a brief but sharply worded order that chastised NASCAR for making a “play to the court of public opinion and perhaps color [the judge’s] perception” of 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports and their counsel, U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell on Monday denied NASCAR an order that would have required 23XI and Front Row to show cause over allegations of submitting fake evidence and attorney-scripted testimony.

Bell wrote that NASCAR’s motion “does not productively move this case forward.” He reminded the parties the antitrust case is “important” because it “risks the fortunes of NASCAR” and the two teams. The case also “significantly impacts all the other companies and individuals who depend on their success (as well as legions of stock car racing fans),” Bell stressed.

Last Friday, NASCAR accused 23XI—which is co-owned by Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin and Curtis Polk—and Front Row, along with the teams’ attorneys, of presenting fake evidence and scripted letters. The accusation implied that Bell was duped into granting a preliminary injunction last December. The injunction, later vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, ensured the two teams could enjoy the rights and face the obligations of the 2025 charter agreements without having to agree to a mutual release provision. 

Bell’s decision last December was based in part on assertions, purportedly from 23XI drivers Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, that they were very worried about the lack of charters and how the absence of charters would impact their careers and contracts. A month earlier, a different federal judge, Frank D. Whitney, denied essentially the same motion on grounds 23XI and Front Row had submitted insufficient evidence that an injunction was necessary for them to avert irreparable harm, meaning the kind of harm that monetary damages could not later remedy.

Bell on Monday suggested NASCAR misunderstood where his focus rests. The judge wrote his concern is “not on how” evidence and affidavits “came to be” but instead on “determining what truthful substance they hold.”  

Along those lines, Bell reasoned that “regardless of whether or not the driver letters were prompted or even written by someone connected to Plaintiffs,” the substance of those letters is what counts. He added that “counsel often prepare their witnesses for depositions with suggestions on how to phrase answers.”

Last Friday, attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who is lead counsel for 23XI Racing and Front Row in the litigation, slammed NASCAR for “yet another baseless distraction.”

The Formula 1 grid is expanding in 2026 with the addition of an 11th team in the form of Cadillac.

It follows a lengthy tender process for new teams set out by the FIA and F1, with Cadillac taking over what was previously the Andretti entry.

Andretti was initially rejected because F1’s commercial rights holders felt it would not add value and held concerns over its competitiveness.

Cadillac would take over the entry bid and was duly accepted, with the American outfit set to join in 2026 as a customer team before bringing in its parent company, General Motors, as a power unit manufacturer in 2028.

Questions are now being raised over who could be part of their driver lineup, and James Hinchcliffe has suggested a driver he thinks would make an impact in a column for F1.com.

James Hinchcliffe suggests NASCAR driver for Cadillac F1 team

Mercedes and former Sauber F1 driver Valtteri Bottas has been slated as a potential candidate for Cadillac, given his recent experience.

Bottas teased a drive with Cadillac on his social media channels, indicating that it might not be too long before we see him back on the grid.

Cadillac will likely want to have an American talent, and while the continent is not short of potential drivers, Hinchcliffe has highlighted NASCAR driver Connor Zilisch.

“Competing full time in the [NASCAR] Xfinity Championship in 2025, he already has three wins in the season, including his first oval victory. Given his road racing background, it is incredibly impressive that he is now competitive on the types of track that a lot of the drivers he’s racing against trained on exclusively on their rise to this level,” said Hinchcliffe.

“And that’s really my point on Zilisch – he seems to be one of the most adaptable drivers that I’ve ever seen. Watching what he’s done so far gives me the feeling that if he was given a proper programme in an open wheel car, and a season or two of F2 to cut his teeth, he could be F1-worthy in short order. And he has the time, because despite the impressive CV he is still only 19 years old.”

READ MORE: All to know about General Motors’ Cadillac F1 team from engine to drivers

Sergio Perez slated for F1 return with Cadillac

With Bottas firmly on the list for a potential comeback, there could also be another former F1 face who rejoins the grid after a period of absence.

Sergio Perez has been slated for a comeback with Cadillac after being dropped by Red Bull at the end of the 2024 season, following a difficult campaign for the Mexican.

While it looked like things had reached their natural end for the Mexican, the performances from Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda have not been the improvement expected.

Perez was bought out of his contract for £11 million last year and is currently being paid not to race for Red Bull, having initially agreed a deal with the team to extend last year.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WBTV) – A longtime driver died during a race at a historic North Carolina track over the weekend.

Robbie Brewer was racing in Saturday night’s Sportsman race at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem when he experienced a medical emergency that led to a crash, FloRacing reported.

FloRacing — who broadcasts races at Bowman Gray — said Brewer “crashed hard” in the fourth turn while coming to a restart during the Aug. 9 race. The crash reportedly came after Brewer had a heart attack in the car.

FloRacing said track personnel rushed to Brewer’s car and had to remove the roof of his racecar to get him out. The 53-year-old was then taken to a nearby hospital.

Brewer had been racing at Bowman Gray Stadium since 1990, according to FloRacing, and won 11 Sportsman races at the track. He made over 300 starts at the quarter-mile venue known as “The Madhouse” and competed in hundreds more races in other divisions.

The veteran racer died just over two weeks before he was set to be married.

His fiancée, Angel McCarter, took to Facebook on Sunday morning to remember Brewer.

“Robbie left this world in a way so fitting for the man he was — doing what he loved most,” she wrote. “Now… I’m lost. I’ve lost my best friend. I don’t know where to start picking up the pieces.”

McCarter said the couple had just picked up their marriage license on July 26, and was set to be married on Aug. 25.

FloRacing said Brewer’s death was the fifth at Bowman Gray Stadium.

Bowman Gray returned to the national spotlight earlier this year when NASCAR brought its preseason event “The Clash” to the historic venue. NASCAR has since said the event will be back at the Winston-Salem track in 2026.

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