Brewer honors an unforgettable friendship by winning the 2025 WDRA Summit Sportsman World Championship in his late friend’s racecar.
MONTGOMERY, AL: Sometimes the road to the world championship turns out to be a country back road with a couple of potholes and switchbacks that force you to slow down. For the 2025 WDRA Summit Sportsman World Champion, Chad Brewer, that means you get to soak in the scenery and enjoy the ride because once you reach the destination, you’ll have a story worth listening to.
A military brat raised in a family of gearheads, Brewer grew up in various places but has always been involved in the car scene, no matter the location. Once his family planted their roots in Southwest Virginia, he made his first pass down Elk Creek Dragway at the age of fifteen and has eagerly buckled into a racecar ever since. Over thirty years of competition, he’s had his fair share of success, racking up approximately ten championships, NMCA victories, a runner-up at the World Footbrake Challenge, and winning the NHRA Div. 2 Bracket Finals, where his world championship aspirations were shattered due to a broken planetary in the first round at Pomona.
After a second-round exit in the No Box class at last year’s WDRA Summit World Championships, Brewer had his heart set on returning to the big stage and skillfully earned two Brainerd Motorsports Park track championships this season: No Box and Sportsman. Brewer and his parents hit the highway with two racecars, where the first of the aforementioned potholes in his success story began while on the way to Montgomery International Dragway.
Brewer said, “It felt like luck was on our side, but everything kept trying to battle us. During the Friday $5K, Dad was at a shop getting the alternator fixed in his tow truck because he hauled the Camaro down for me. Then the Nova had issues, so I had to swap carburetors, but luckily it was during the time run, so I had plenty of time to get it fixed.”
Having both rides dialed in for the event was a high priority, as Brewer understood the caliber of competition he was part of. His humorous explanation was, “Tight racing was going on all weekend, so that tells you the quality of the field that was there. Everybody there is a track champion or won the bracket finals, so ain’t no ducks in that creek, you know what I mean?”
Brewer was absolutely correct, and as written on the side of his ’68 Camaro, it would take blood, sweat, and tears to rise to the top of the thirty-five-car field after Saturday’s event. On the way to the WDRA Summit Sportsman World Championship, he would eliminate Jonathon Wheeldon (Eddyville Raceway Park), Jerry Wheaton (Ubly Dragway), Dustin Baldwin (Shannonville Drags), and JJ Pennington (Holiday Raceway). The third round of competition proved to be interesting when Brewer was eliminated in the No Box category and then realized he had a voltage issue when his tachometer stopped working, forcing him to stall on muscle memory and engine sound on the starting line in Sportsman. Once he realized another alternator had given out, he swapped the newer batteries from the Nova into the Camaro. Eventually, he used the semifinal bye run for a moment of rest for himself and his ride.
In the final round, Brewer had a .007 reaction time advantage and ran 7.407 on his 7.40 dial-in to earn the electrifying victory over Chris Mesbergen from Mid Michigan Motorplex. Along with the world champion title, he earned $10,000 cash, a WDRA Champion card, and a WDRA Rod trophy. His storybook ending included the Camaro, which initially belonged to a friend of over fifteen years who, unfortunately, passed away during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brewer elaborated, “Dickey [Forrester] and I would always be seen at the racetrack together, and people started calling me his adoptive son. I started the year just wanting to win a track championship in Dickey’s car, then I won both [No Box and Sportsman]. I thought that was shocking enough, but winning a world championship in his car is just amazing. You couldn’t have written a movie any better than the story I had. I had my mom and dad there, I was driving Dickey’s car, and the day I won was his birthday. To me, it’s a great movie.”
The fast-paced event allowed him to focus solely on his racing and not get too caught up in the pursuit of reaching his goal round after round. Brewer admitted the worst thing you can do in drag racing is have too much time to think. After the adrenaline rush, Brewer reflected not only on winning the Sportsman World Championship but also on earning ninth place in the national top ten standings in the No Box class. He said, “To finish in the top ten in two different classes is an honor, and it’s nice to have luck go your way from time to time. I stop and think about how many people would like to say that they even qualified. It’s a feat in itself and just unreal. Then my buddy Richie texted me first thing Sunday, saying, ‘Good morning, World Champion…doesn’t that sound good?’ And I said yes, that has a great ring to it!”
Brewer’s infectious personality, paired with traveling to different facilities and series over the years, has attracted a multitude of friends throughout the sport who were sending well wishes, congratulations, and watching on the MotorManiaTV live feed. It’s unclear if his phone has stopped ringing at this point, but that only adds to the overall experience. Specifically, Brewer would like to thank his mom and dad, Dickey Forrester, Rich Arbitelle, Tim Keeton, and Robert Killian. He also gave a shoutout to the WDRA by saying, “WDRA does a fantastic job; the way they run things from the bracket finals to the world finals is just so smooth and enjoyable. I have thoroughly enjoyed both bracket finals and world finals since Brainerd has been part of WDRA. Plus, this is the most money I’ve won during a single race ever, which is nice until Uncle Sam comes calling.”
For those racers hoping to become the next world champion, track champion, or consistently win rounds, Brewer’s advice is to maintain optimism and patience. “All I can say is, just keep taking your licks. I hate to sound so cliché, but dreams come true, man. But you have to have the right mindset and can’t be a Debbie Downer all the time; you gotta think positive. Everyone needs to experience this once in their racing lifetime, a world championship [event].”
Brewer feels it would be nearly impossible to top becoming the world champion at this point in the season and plans to start maintenance on both his racecars in preparation for 2026. He spoke about how his mother attends a race about once a season, and this time it was his most significant win to date. So, he will skip the upcoming big money bracket races this holiday season and instead spend what he and his father jokingly call “mama time” back home in Virginia. And when you think about it, that’s how all the best stories end: with the ones who matter the most.