To those of you that dont know. Brian from mighty duck racing lost his life this morning at daytona.The details of the accident is on raod racing world.com.. God speed
I can't believe it... :'
http://venus.13x.com/roadracingworld/index.html
you know the guy could be really annoying, but will be greatly missed. I wish this was one race he missed.
My thoughts and prayer's to his family.... :'(
My deepest sympathy to his family. A tragic loss. :'(
twg
One thing for sure, he was enthusiastc about the sport. He loved it. This is really sad news.
God Speed brother racer...
I hope the wheels in the sky spin fast and true. You will be missed.
May God Bless him and all of the people Who loved him. We will miss his 2cents here on this site. I will keep him in my prayers.
I never met Brian but I do know from his comments here on this board that he had a passion for this sport that was greater than most of us. He will be missed by all.
Godspeed Brian.
god speed brian
Bryan was on the phone with many of us as much as he was on this and just about every other motorcycle website on the net. He was hands down the most enthusiastic fella i have met when it comes to cycles and racing. It was a truly terrible chain of events that took place to prematurely end this young mans life.
Later Bryan.
I got this address off of his site. I am sure we can send our cards there...
MightyDuc Racing
Bryan Cassell
3025 SW 11th Court
Cape Coral, FL 33914
Dawn :'(
I never met the guy or even corresponded with him on the BBS but his article was one of the things that made me decide to really give this roadracing thing a shot. God bless
God speed Brian, man I feel really bad about this, just last week I was thinking to myself Brian shouldnt be racing that ducati of his at daytona this weekend. Many of us on this board have cautioned him about that bike, with all the problems he has had with it but we all know how racers can be, stubborn. I have had a bad feeling about him and this weekend ever since he said he was taking it to daytona. I knew eventually that bike would get him or someone else hurt, I was praying it wouldnt be this bad. I also feel so bad about all the flogging I had giving him in the past even though it was all just friendly BS between rivals. I have never met him but I feel like we have been friends forever. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family, God speed Brian, we will miss you! :'(
:'( Truly a sad thing to happen. My sympathy also goes out to his family.
I was waiting to say hey to him on the Super Twins grid. This is difficult.
A great loss.
Prayers to all his Family and friends.
H. #296
RIP
Bryan was my best friend and he died doing what he loved. It was his childhood dream to race at Daytona and nothing was going to stop him. If we can gain anything from this, it is that! He died fulfilling his dream! I am attaching an article as well as a link to his website. I will post information regarding his services when they become available to me. He will be missed. God Speed.
My prayers and thoughts to his wife, Heather and his family as well as the friends that were touched by his life.
The address that was posted earlier is his correct home address and if you would like to send cards, I am sure they will comfort his family during this time.
biggsy
http://venus.13x.com/roadracingworld/scripts/NewsInsert.asp?insert=7635
http://www.news-press.com/news/local_state/031019caperacer.html
http://mightyducracing.com
Oh that hurts. I never met Brian, but I loved his posts. I know from reading his words that we would have been friends. Maybe we'll get a chance someday on the other side.
It's a chance we all take, but that doesn't make it any easier when it actually happens to one of us. Sorry Brian. I hope you were having the best day of your life.
I was surprised to read this all on RRW.com this am. I looked at the name, and my wheels started turning.
Unfortunately, there is no survival rate from life. Indeed, you hope that you do some good things when you're here. Bryan sure seemed enthusiastic and happy. Hopefully, the feeling of his love will also be comforting to his family.
Godspeed, Bryan. :'(
Quoteyou know the guy could be really annoying, ..[snip]
...Now THAT's just COLD.
obviously you were unaware of our smarta$$ relationship toolbox. ;D
This is really sad, :(
Does anyone have his published article from RRW ?
Thanks,
"D"
Even though Bryan was not my teammate, he definitely lived P3A Racing.
P3A - To the stars through perseverance
His presence on this BBS will be missed.
Peace be unto you Bryan.
Does anyone have an online copy of the artical he wrote? if so please let me know
you should be able to get it through RRW. try searching for it.
I did it is not there...
It might be on his web site.
:'(
Bryan's enthusiasm for the sport was most definitely contagious... I wish I could have met him. He was taken waaay too soon but at least he left us while doing what he loved. I hope his loved ones will be able to draw some comfort in that.
Best wishes to his family from John and I.
May you find peace in Gods Paddock Bryan.
You'll be missed by all.
-Dan & Bambi
RIP Bryan, man I used to see him online all the time. dammit. :-[ :( not good
At least I guess he got his dream of becoming a road racer...not too many dreams come true but Brian left us doing what he loved doing....Ride on brother!!!Ride on!!!
I will definately miss Him. We became pretty close the last few months and had some awesome races. It was so damn hard for me to drive by the accident in practice i was almost sick. It was extremely hard to line up for the first race and not see him giving me the thumbs up on the grid. Godspeed brother and one day may we race together again. Heather if you need anything dont hesitate to call us.
I am so sad to hear this. This just does not seem fair. God speed, indeed, Bryan. :'(
Such a sad loss. Peace, Bryan.
Damn....I'm truely sorry to hear about this. My thoughts are with his loved ones.
Steve
While I never met Bryan, I felt I knew him just a little bit from reading his RRW article and his posts on this board.
His crash in the Thunderbike practice session shook me up. It looked just awful. I went back to my garage hoping and praying that those involved would be OK in the end.
My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends and the other racer involved in the incident.
Godspeed Bryan.
I too enjoyed his posts, his light hearted approach to racing and his article in Road Racing World. I am so saddened by this. We lost a good one here. :'(
RIP Mighty Duc
Unfortunately I never met Bryan, but enjoyed seeing him on the boards.
Godspeed Bryan
RIP, You will be missed.
I feel i lost a friend i've never met. Godspeed Brian
Our thoughts and praers are with Brians family. Man this is so damn sad...! From my family to his, you have our deepest sympathys. God speed Brian.
It's always sad to lose one of "our own". I never met Brian, only knew him through the board.
Although untimely, I'm glad he was living a dream.
Peace and Prayers to family and friends...
I'm still here and when I heard it I knew I've seen the name from somewhere. Shocked when I remembered.
Sad. Rest in peace.....
Godspeed and RIP. :(
I'm stunned. Bryan and I e-mailed several times this year and though I've never met him in person, I still feel like I knew him a little. I know this happens in racing and Bryan died while living his dream. Still an incredible shame. Godspeed Bryan and my thoughts and prayers are with his family.
-Kris
(https://www.ccsforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmembers.fireblades.org%2Ftigerblade%2Fimages%2Fhilltop.jpg&hash=606d41840148378107254585166ac36b62dbbfad)
Bryan was as enthusiastic in person as he was on here. In the one year he raced with us in Florida he made so many friends. You just had to love this guy. His enthusiasm for this sport was contagious, even to an old veteran like me. He believed so strongly about his racing and everything he did. He was a true winner not only on the track but in life. I shall miss him dearly.
Henry
My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.
I enjoyed his posts and his enthusiasm for racing. I felt like I knew him even though I never met him.
My thoughts are with his family and friends...
patrick
That picture sums him up in a nutshell.
Dedicated ;D ;D
I am so sorry to hear this. Let us never forget that this is a seriously dangerous sport. I think sometimes we do.
Brian was so full of newbie courage, pride, confidence and enthusiasm that he was fun to read, and fun to see. He always seemed to have a great attitude, even when he lost his job last year, he bucked up and kept moving. I shared others' concerns about that handgrenade ducati of his, but he loved that stupid thing, and nobody was going to tell him otherwise.
God speed Brian, you will be missed.
I would contribute to a fund for his wife if someone could set up such a thing. He probably didn't have any life insurance, and even so, it probably excluded motorcycle racing. Something to think about, people.
It is apparent after reading these 4 pages of posts that everyone knew how passionate Bryan was about this sport. I regret never meeting him, as people like him are too few. I spoke to Henry D. at the race and was told of the young man's potential. What an incredible loss for the racing world.
All of our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.
God Speed
Lisa
We were pitted right next to them for the Team Challenge event. They were nice enough to loan us a drill to get our bike back in the game. Really really nice guys. So sad to hear this happened. RIP.
Our thoughts and prayers to Brian's family, he will be missed. God speed ...
Jennifer Clance
Austin Snyder
CCS MA/SE Staff
God speed Brian, you will be missed by many. Leo and I send our condolences to Brian's family.
Vicki and Leo Sulpy
very sad indeed. godspeed bryan. :(
I had just met Brian on Thursday as he was walking thru our garage, I had enjoyed his posts as much as everyone and was glad to have had the chance to meet him. He was a really cool guy, it's a terrible shame to lose someone like him.
MightyDuc will be missed so much. We only knew him online, but what a nice guy he was. He's the same age as me and that really hurts. I've been thinking of his wife often.
No regrets, people. Live life to the fullest!
Heather and Stumpy
Thanks everyone.....
I have printed this post out and included it in with our sympathy card (all 9 pages).
Dawn :)
My thoughts and preyers go out
i talked to him just before he went out,
we were going to have shrimp Sat. night.
it was nice meeting him. we were pitted across from one another in adjacent garages. he was just like
he is on the board. i cried that night.
i will miss you mighty.....
Benji. # 30.
I knew Brian very well. I raced him all year. He loved the sport and he loved to race me. We had a great race in the GT lights on friday. He never gave up and would never quit. Unfortunatly he lowsided in the horseshoe on the 5th lap. I know how badly he wanted to win at Daytona. I still can't believe what happened it is a real and personal loss to me.
Steve and I had a very hard time going out to race without him. I know he was there with us.
He made me a better racer and he touched all of our lives.
My thoughts are with him and his family
RIP 944
miss ya mightyduc,
Mills
Extremely sorry to hear about the loss of Bryan. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.
Amy, Christian, Jesus Diaz
Rest in peace Brian. Didn't get to meet you yet, and didn't know that had happened on Sat, until I came home and read this, I will always remember you, even though we never met in person. Can't believe it still
I would like to start by thanking everyone for the enormous amount of support we have received. It is very comforting to read all of your emails. I must say that these past few days have been the hardest of my life. I wake up every morning in tears. The days all seem to be a blur. And the nights are just plain scary. I am left with wonderful memories of a man that had so much drive and passion for the things in his life. He touched the lives of more people in just 28 years than most people do in a lifetime.
Bryan was amazing! He knew everyone! What can I say, the man talked 24/7. It used to drive me crazy! We used to joke and say that if Bryan ever had to be quiet for more than a few minutes, he would explode. He had the gift of gab. He was a wonderful salesman. I often times had to tell him to stop trying to sell me his ideas. He was a "networker." It was funny that no matter where we went, we always bumped into someone he knew. We could be right down the street from our house or hours away from home. That was just Bryan. He wanted to know everyone!
I first met Bryan when we were in high school, about 11 years ago. I instantly knew that he was a great person. It wasn't until a couple of years later that I met up with him again. We began dating the next day. He was 19 and I was 18. Six months later we were engaged. We had a very long engagement but we were considered already married. We finally got married a couple of years ago. We were together for over 9 years. He was my world. We did everything together. It was funny how we were complete opposites. You could not of had two other people be as different as we were and have as great of a relationship and share as much love as we did for each other.
He taught me many things in life. I was blown away with his ability to learn new things in a matter of seconds. He always found a place for himself. He has certainly taught me about passion. Since he started racing this year , I became more and more amazed with him. I used to joke with him about how excited and passionate I thought he was (especially about racing). I told him that some day I would also find a passion like he had, and that I would also learn to take more risks. I have been learning how to paint and I enjoy art. He asked me about that being my passion. I laughed and said that comparing art to roadracing seemed a bit funny. I told him that roadracing was full of risks. Painting was not quite compareable. The only risk was maybe poking myself with a paint brush. I am sure that one day I will find my passion. I have had the best role model!
I love that he was able to bring meaning and enuthsiasm to the sport of roadracing. I have had huge amounts of support from everyone, many of whom I have never met. I have always known that Bryan was special, but I never realized that he had touched so many lives. He was an inspiration to us all.
I will continue to maintain his website www.mightyducracing.com and I will keep his screen name. Please feel free to contact me if you need someone to talk to, or if you just want to share something about Bryan. I would love it if you introduced yourselves! I have enjoyed reading all of your posts. Thank You for taking the time to post your thoughts. They have been more helpful than you will ever know.
A public viewing will be held Thursday, October 23rd, from 6:00pm-8:00pm. There will be a Celebration of Life ceremony on Friday, October 24th, at 2:00 pm. Both will take place at :
Harvey-Engelhardt Metz Funeral Home
1600 Colonial Blvd.
Fort Myers, FL 33907
(239)936-2177
In lieu of flowers, a fund has been set up under Bryan's name at any SunTrust Bank.
I have so much more to say about Bryan. But mostly I will miss him! I am very happy that he got to live his lifelong dream of racing at Daytona. There are not a lot of people that can say they have lived their dream! He was a happy man. This is what he wanted to do. Remember to live your dreams!
I LOVE YOU BRYAN!
Forever your wife,
Heather
__________________
MightyDuc Racing
Ducati 944 Superbike
CCS AM #944
MightyDuc Racing
Sponsors:
Tomahawk Tires, Mom & Dad, Dunlop, AGV Sport, Superbikes & Ski, BCM Ducati, VP
Wow.
Rock on, Heather. May God be with you through this.
Bryan was a shining star! His online presence was felt by many and he will be missed!
Stay strong Heather but also give yourself some time to heal. You and Bryan are in my prayers.
QuoteThere are not a lot of people that can say they have lived their dream!
Wow.....
That very statement is in the card I sent to you and it is oh so true.
Take care, our thoughts are with you.
Heather, if you want to talk, one racing wife to another, feel free to e-mail me at buxton@frontiernet.net and I will provide our telephone number to you.
Take care,
Dawn Buxton
Heather,
You are an amazing woman. Stay strong and keep the memories close.
QuoteIn lieu of flowers, a fund has been set up under Bryan's name at any SunTrust Bank.
I LOVE YOU BRYAN!
Forever your wife,
Heather
Wow, Heather, so nice to hear from you on the board. I'm sure you know it, but BRYAN LOVES YOU, TOO. I can feel that all the way out here in Wisconsin. Hope that always keeps some blue skies in your life.
I don't think there are any SunTrust Banks in our neck of the woods. Does anyone in Florida have any telephone numbers or an address...
www.suntrust.com
Cool.
Dawn, can you make a sticky on that....
Heather,
I've not raced, but Bryan affected me as well. As I talked to my own wife about Bryan last night, she reminded me that he was doing what he was passionate about, and that many people never live their dreams. I am very sorry for what happened, but I am proud of him somehow.
Linsay
Heather... Reading your post just absolutley put me in tears. You are an amazing woman. I cant even imagine what you and your family must be going through. I have never met Brian personally, but I have talked to him on these posts from time to time and I would have to agree with the rest of the board that his passion for racing was, and is inspiring. I heard about the accident Sat. while out on a ride with some friends. I didn't know who was involved untill I got home and saw that it was Brian. My heart sank lower than it ever has before. His second to the last post he replied to was mine. We were discussing Green sheeting a vehicle with another board member. I work for Daimler-Chrysler in Belvidere Illinois. I want you to know that our family is your family. If there is anything you need, or just want to talk, we are here for you. You are not alone in your loss, we feel the void too. Keep the faith, be strong, and know that our prayers and thoughts are with you always. Mark, Becky, Karly, Jamie, Victoria, Bradley and the Kegel Race Team
My condolences to his family...what a terrible thing. :'(
Heather,
You are an inspiration.
Rest Peacefully Bryan !!! God Bless and be with you and your Family !!!
Came pretty close to meeting you,... caught up with and met Melk-Man on Wednesday, but you hadnt arrived yet.... we missed each other (spent the day at the beach thursday) rushed around all day friday, slept in on Saturday, missed practice, got to the track and heard that i WISHED you had missed Saturday mornings practice!!!
I'm gonna have that shrimp dinner that we had planned on, in your memory...
God Speed, Brother...
Ike
Heather, yourself and Brian came thru our garage on Friday, I believe looking for Tom Short, and spoke with Mike Jordan momentarily. I remember how full of energy Brian seemed to be and how nice it was to put a face with a screen name. You are truely an inspiration to all of us in the racing community whom are morning this tragic loss. Though I didn't get to speak with him myself, I think his screen presence said it all.
Stay strong Heather, and God speed Brian. :'(
Prayers and Godspeed !
Wow. Absolutely terrible news. God bless Bryan and family.
That is terrible. I frequently read his posts/articles that have been on this board, the WERA board, along with his Road Racing World article, and his website as well.
My prayers are with him and his family.
I got to know Bryan a little bit this year. I have never met anyone with as much enthusiasm for racing as him. I feel privileged to have known him and will surely miss him. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife and family.
Godspeed Bryan!!!
RIP, my racer bro. It was my privilidge to share the track with you in the endurance race.
The announcer was all over Mighty Duc Racing.
RIP bro.
Our condolences from our family to his.
I got to meet Bryan for the first time at ROC. He came up and asked if I was MZGirl, and introduced himself. I talked to him again briefly before Saturday's practice session. He was quite intense and passionate about the sport. He was telling me all about his crash in the horseshoe the day before, how he busted his pinky finger and they were going to shoot it with novicane before his races that day so that he could race. "I've got to win today" he said enthusiastically, and I wished him luck.
He will be missed.
My prayers are with you, God speed.....
Brother Racer, I admire you for doing what you loved in life. May god bless you and keep you. I hope he gives you a better bike to fly in the sky. :'(
My heart goes out to his family. I never met him, but I talked to him alot about working the bug out of his stuff. He was a good guy, and would never give up.................
I know this is belated but I just found out about Bryan. As a fellow rider and fellow duc lover I am very sad to hear this horrible news.. Bryan, you are missed and I am glad you passed away doing what you obviously loved!
Matt
Bryan,
Did you find that missing piston waiting for you in Heaven?
God speed buddy...
Wow - I just got on your site yesturday, so I had not read this yet. I am Bryan's sister, Laura.
You all are wonderful people, for once, I am speechless.
I have a request - a lot of you were there on that fateful day, there has been a rumor flying that someone had a video of the wreck - CCS couldn't find it, Daytona Speedway couldn't find it, but we, Heather, myself and my father, believe it is out there.
If you know of it, could you let one of us know?
Sounds Sick, but we need to know for sure what happened. You all know him to be enthusiastic, talkative, but a newbie as you call it.
I have seen him fall down on a TT track, pick the bike up himself, start it and go on to finish 2nd, in an 8 lap race. I know what he was made of and I know he lives the rules of the track - no blame anywhere, we just need to know.
I hope that Jeff is doing well, I haven't seen any posts from him lateley-
Jeff you are in my prayers, may your body and mind, mend quickly.
Laura
thank you for the kind words Laura. please know that you and your family are still in my prayers! if there is anything i can ever do for you and the family, please do not hesitate to contact me.
jeff
ccs se am #419
"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm" - ralph waldo emerson
in memory of #944
Just live to race again.