NEED TO KNOW
- 53-year-old race car driver Robbie Brewer died Aug. 9 after suffering a “medical emergency” during a race and crashing into a wall
- Brewer was scheduled to be married on Aug. 25
- After his death, Brewer’s fiancée mourned him on social media, saying she’d lost her “best friend”
A veteran race car driver who died during a race in North Carolina on Saturday, Aug. 9, was just three weeks away from his wedding day.
Robbie Brewer died after experiencing what has been reported as a “medical emergency” during a race and crashing head-on into a wall, according to FloRacing, Fox affiliate WGHP and NBC affiliate WXII. He was 53 years old.
Brewer died after first responders at the scene peeled open the roof of the car to pull him out of the vehicle and then took him to a local hospital, FloRacing reported.
Brewer’s fiancée, Angel Friesinger McCarter, shared an emotional social media post Sunday, Aug. 10, writing that the tragedy will be “forever etched in my soul.”
“I’m lost,” McCarter wrote. “I’ve lost my best friend. I don’t know where to start picking up the pieces.”
McCarter wrote that she and Brewer had just returned from vacation on Saturday. “Robbie couldn’t wait to get back to racing,” she said. “His first practice went great, so he decided to skip the second one.”
WGHP reported that the couple was scheduled to be married on Aug. 25.
“Sixteen months with the best man I’ve ever known,” McCarter wrote in her memorial post, alongside photos of herself and Brewer. “Robbie truly loved me with his whole heart, and I loved him with every fiber of my being.”
Robbie Brewer.
Robbie Brewer/Facebook
Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, said in a statement that Brewer suffered an “on-track medical incident” before crashing head-first into a wall on turn four at the track, according to WGHP.
FloRacing, which broadcasts races from the historic race track, reported that sources said Brewer suffered a heart attack while in his race car.
The broadcaster wrote that Brewer “was a beloved member of the Bowman Gray Racing community” for more than 35 years, noting that he was remembered for “driving his familiar Green number-68 car for much of his tenure.”
The 53-year-old veteran had competed in 311 races at the track since he first debuted in June 1990, according to FloRacing.
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Fellow racer and friend Brad Lewis mourned Brewer’s death on social media, amid an outpour of posts in his honor.
“He was my family,” Lewis wrote on Facebook, per FloRacing. “A true man’s man.”
He continued, “I’m broken, as most are that he touched through his life. I will never forget you, Robbie. I’ll be driving for you.”
