SPEED Touring Car Driver DeCastro, Family Perish In Plane Crash

[madsedan]

This is so sad, I was just talking to him last weekend at Laguna, prayers to the rest of his family.



MOHAVE COUNTY, Ariz. (Oct. 27, 2006) – SCCA Pro Racing SPEED Touring Car driver Lucho DeCastro (44), his wife and two children were killed in a private plane crash Wednesday in northwestern Arizona, the Associated Press reported Thursday.



According to the AP report, Ian Gregor, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the single-engine plane crashed about noon Wednesday about 60 miles east of Las Vegas after its pilot reported icing on the plane's wings.



Search crews from the Mohave County, Ariz., Sheriff's Office spotted the wreckage from a helicopter about 15 miles northeast of Pierce Ferry Airport Wednesday afternoon and saw three bodies.



Mohave County Sheriff Tom Sheahan said search and rescue personnel crossing rugged terrain got close to the site late Wednesday but camped out overnight before continuing on after daybreak. The fourth body was found on Thursday.



Gregor said the plane, a Cirrus SR-22, was on its way to Phoenix from the San Francisco Bay Area.



The DeCastro family—Lucho, Laura (41), Nadia (7) and Trevor (4), were reported as the only passengers.



The plane is designed to deploy a parachute in an emergency, but it was unclear whether it deployed.



DeCastro had just completed the season finale of the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED Touring Car Championship. The race was the third of 2006 for the rookie driver. He finished 17th in the race.



DeCastro, who resided in Stone Mountain, Ga., also competed in SCCA Club Racing events in 2006. He acquired a BMW 325i from Turner Motorsport earlier in the season and made his series debut at Mid-Ohio in May, where he recorded what would be his best-ever finish (14th) in his first start. DeCastro also raced at Road Atlanta in September in addition to the October 22 season-finale in Monterey, Calif.



“Coupled with the passing of young Hatch Osborn last week, it has been a difficult time for the World Challenge family away from the race track,” SCCA President and CEO Jim Julow said. “Our thoughts and prayers are certainly with the friends and relatives of the DeCastro family.”



This is the second time in three years that an SCCA World Challenge series driver perished in a private plane crash. On October 1, 2003, Paul Mumford was killed in a private plane crash in California, less than a month after Mumford scored his first-ever series win at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

[dhabes]

Holy Shit. Lucho. This is very very sad. I was working for TMS with 2 other crew guys at Mid Ohio when Lucho was testing out the car. Great guy with a real sense of humor. Very humble and thankful for all our help.

This is very sad. RIP Lucho.

[dhabes]

here is another story. Claims he reported his wings were icing up. http://www.knxv.com/news/index.asp?did=30715

[Seth Thomas]

Lucho was definitely a great guy. I didn't have the honor to meet him until this year but I enjoyed talking with him everytime we met. He was always energetic and loved what he was doing with passon. He will be missed in World Challenge.

RIP my friend.

[LarryL]

Sadness.

RIP, DeCastro family.

[dhabes]

picture of lucho's ex TMS racecar at Laguna.

[Charlie]

Damn man, PMum flying back from Laguna after the race, and now Castro.

-Charlie

[VADER13]

oh man, RIP what a loss

[S.Lang]

Very sad. I'm saddened by the loss of he and his wife, and staggered by the loss of the 4 year old and 7 year old children.

[de Witt]

Cirrus SR20 series are not having such a hot streak of late. Cory Lidle was flying a SR20 when he crashed recently...

[6i9]

I never heard of him, but the story is still heartening.

RIP

[Specter325]

How chilling that I just finished watching this race on TIVO not ten minutes ago.
The cirrus is an excellent aircraft. Ice has claimed the life of many an experienced aviator. It is one of the few things that are not totally predictable and the difference in altitude of a couple thousand feet can be the difference between ice that is barely noticable and ice that builds so fast that you are unrecoverable before you realize what is happening. I pray for the family and all who knew them.

RIP

[maranelloman]

Holy Shit. Lucho. This is very very sad. I was working for TMS with 2 other crew guys at Mid Ohio when Lucho was testing out the car. Great guy with a real sense of humor. Very humble and thankful for all our help.

This is very sad. RIP Lucho.

Holy smokes, this is incredibly sad. I met him at Mid-O....we both had to attend the rookies' meeting & have our photos taken at the same time. I agree with your sentiments--nice as heck guy, and a clean, fair racer.

RIP to him and also his family.

[///Mal]

Terribly sad.

Godspeed.

[FormulaBMWjr07]

This is such a shame. I met Lucho at Laguna Seca at a skip barber 3 day school in June when he was there to learn the track for the Speed World Challenge and I was there to get experience in an open wheel car before competing for a Formula BMW scholarship in Spain. On the last day when we were doing full laps I had not had the opportunity to meet Lucho until he passed me and I stayed on his gearbox for 3 laps until I passed him back. We eventually passed eachother multiple times and both jumped out of a car in excitement giving eachother high fives and exclaiming how awesome that was. We ended up talking briefly and he gave me is business card and told me to call him for business opportunities. When I told him I was heading to spain the next month, he wrote down his brothers phone number who lives in Spain, and told me to call him for a place to hang out. I've only known this guy for 30 minutes and he is giving me his brothers phone number to stay with him.
I wish more people in the world could be like Lucho. He is an amazing and kind man, and a talented driver. Its a shame I never got a chance to talk to him before he passed.
Rest in Peace, Lucho. You will be missed sorely.

[jsedlak]

[hsscott776]

I lived in the neighborhood, across The street from them, when they lived in Atlanta, before they passed. We got very close to all of them.

I was great friends with Nadia especially as we were very close in age. (Only two years apart)