Oscar Diaz?

i didn't know that

I'm sure they would prefer that you didn't.

Very sad and tragic news. RIP Oscar, you will be missed.

Oscar and Brien became friends at Marino and Jane's track (Quick track in Lakeland). We are all devastated. Oscar was such a great kid and was a lot of fun to hang out with. Mario is just as awesome and he did a great job raising Oscar. My heart feels like it weighs a thousand pounds. Godspeed Oscar. You did a great job while you here.

Man, that's just crazy. I'll keep his family in my prayers.


P

Very sad indeed. I can't believe this. Please let us know more when you folks get the info. I will be donating a small amount to Riderdown in honor of Oscar.

Great kid.. he will be missed.







Photo credit to Shawn Breze.

My blessings and prayers go out to Mario and the family. I have not seen Oscar in a while and am very sad to know I will not see him face to face again. He was one of the happiest guys I have ever met, with such a great personality. Any day at the track was better if Oscar was there. I will always remember the time I spent with him and Mario at the mini O's and especially the one time I tried to keep up with him at Seminole, although it was only for a half a lap or so. Man he was fast! God Bless You Oscar R.I.P.

From the St. Pete Times:

After several years of riding at Dade City Motocross, Oscar Diaz was going pro. On Saturday evening the fun-loving 21-year-old racer, known for taking younger riders under his wing, won the first stage of the National Motocross Championship in Guatemala.

A few hours later, he was dead.

Authorities say Diaz was gunned down as he drove back to Guatemala City with another driver and mechanic, who were critically injured.

Guatemala's National Civilian Police, or PNC, have said the car was attacked for unknown reasons. But the rising violence among drug cartels, known for backing some motocross teams in Guatemala, has fueled speculation that Diaz unknowingly got caught between rival gangs.

Diaz's friends learned of his death Sunday, as word spread at an event at Dade City Motocross.

"Everybody was numb after hearing what happened," said family friend Danny Vancil, who runs OAS Powersports in Brooksville. "All this kid ever wanted to be was a professional motocross rider. Everybody around the track loved him, and when they heard the news, everyone was in disbelief."

Diaz was born in Costa Rica and moved to Florida some five years ago, friends said. Before finding a home in Wesley Chapel a few months ago, he lived next door to the Morgan family in Ridge Manor.

By coincidence, Justin Morgan, now 14, was into motocross, too. Diaz worked out with the boy and taught him some tricks of the trade.

What made Diaz such a good rider? "His attitude," said Roger Morgan, Justin's dad. "He was such a happy-go-lucky person. He always made time for people and kids."

Vancil, who saw Diaz nearly every day at his shop, said the young rider loved working with kids — and he stayed out of trouble.

"Just last week he came and picked up a box of racing gloves before going down to Miami to teach some kids down there," Vancil said. "He said he was going to give all the kids racing gloves. That's the kind of guy he was, not someone you'd ever think this would happen to."

After a brief visit last week with his mother in Costa Rica, Diaz made his way to Guatemala to ride for a team that had contacted him about riding in a National Championship race.

It's commonplace for aspiring professional riders to accept invitations to ride for other teams, Dade City Motocross owner Randy Yoho said.

After winning the race at the Entre Volcanes track in Alotenango, Diaz and his companions headed back toward Guatemala City. The attack occurred near San Lucas Sacatepequez, a city in southwest Guatemala.

The National Motocross Federation suspended the second stage of the competition on Sunday, in light of Diaz's murder.

"He was so charming," Yoho said. "If we had kids come in from other countries that spoke Spanish Oscar would translate. Everyone around the track knew him and respected him. He was a good rider and someone that brought a lot of joy to the track.

"He wasn't the kind of kid that stirred up trouble and he definitely wasn't involved with anything drug-related," Yoho said.

According to the Latin America Herald Tribune, Guatemala has been plagued by a crime wave that has driven the murder rate up to around 17 a day.

The more than 5,400 homicides reported last year in Guatemala — a nation of approximately 13 million — was nearly equal to the number of murders in neighboring Mexico, which has more than 100 million inhabitants and is the scene of open war among rival drug cartels.

The two men in the car with Diaz — Lewis Boniel, a 20-year-old Costa Rican driver, and Carlos Zuñiga, a 30-year-old Guatemalan mechanic — were seriously wounded.

Diaz's father boarded a plane Sunday for Costa Rica. The family plans to bury Diaz in his homeland on Wednesday.

Times staff writer Bridget Hall Grumet and researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report.

I did not know Oscar but I think he came up here to Georgia to practice at Lazy River before the LLQ. The weekend was a total wreck with all the rain we had that weekend and the track was nearly under water. They went ahead and let people out on the track for a practice and all of about 4 people went out.

One of these persons was a kid on a Honda, Diaz on the back side of the jersey he was wearing. This kid was flying in that muddy mess of a track. I couldn't believe how fast he was riding in these conditions, even hitting the tripple in the center of the track like it was a dry dusty day, unbelievable!

Not sure if this was the same kid that was sho, I suspect it was. RIP Diaz, glad I was able to see you ride even if it was once.

Yes, if you saw somebody flying, has to be Oscar, not only he runs, he flies, was so amazing to see him riding, everywhere he goes, he got a lot of followers, you always learn from him. He was such a clean kid, plain, no matter what he got, he always was plain kid. Lately he was coming to practice and teach to Miami Moto Cross Park, the owner made a special lap for him, he spoke to him last Friday and told, "Oscar I made a good change in the track for you, you must to see how nice" and he said "OK, I'll be there to try it", but now, he is in heaven, a a friend of him from Dade City wrote an angel lite in heaven. God blessed his family and let them recover from this lost, and soon they only will have the best memories of a son like him. I'm sure whoever met Oscar going to miss him.

I love looking on here and seeing that so many people watched him and cared for him. He went 2 Guatamala to race for fun and him and some friends were walking around and they were ambushed by some fucks with AK-47's but they did it for the money he had won. Two of his friends were shot but not killed and he was also getting looked at by a couple sponsors. At least he won his race and died happy i was close to him, i'm so happy to see people care

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Why does it seem that people who make the biggest positive impact on others are taken away so soon?

RIP Oscar

Local news did a story about it down here yesterday evening.
They showed his bikes etc...
Very sad tragedy.