With Chase Sexton departing from the series this weekend (at least for now), many in the 450cc field knew that their position(s) in the final running order could be increased on behalf of the “SX” champion not participating in the round of Hangtown. Therefore Derek Drake was confidently envisioning the final result of his performance on Saturday equating to a result of a single-digit overall...which could be reflected in the countless scrubs, wheel-taps, and over-jumps he would portray while dashing through the Northern California countryside amid time(d)-trials. There were few lines that the Suzuki rider wouldn’t identify as he scoured the racing landscape from one side to the other, throwing caution to the wind as he clicked into fourth gear amongst an absolute sea of braking bumps and pot-holes! The dirt was already beginning to break down prior to participating in the first moto of action, but his ability to adapt would be paramount as he advanced into the top fifteen within the first few laps of the contest. His execution amongst the powder berms on the outside of the course would be spectacular, and caused that of Ryan Surratt behind him to follow on more than one occasion. It was almost as if he were seeing this landscape through an entirely different lens, which allowed the resident of California (i.e. Drake) to link specific segments together with momentum while storming toward the fifteen-minute mark of the moto. There was an astounding line he would find before the largest flyaway tabletop on the circuit, where he cut from the apex of the right-hander that preceded it with aggression and diverted off the midline to miss the largest of acceleration bumps; sparing both energy and time, as a means of pulling away from the Venezuelan rider (i.e. Lorenzo Locurcio) who was just seconds behind him. And as he maintained a surplus of aggression en route to the checkered flag, he would exit the raceway with a stellar placement of eighth in hand. Next to come was the final moto of the day, where Jett Lawrence immediately forced the pace of the rest of the field to rise (at the front of the pack) while he resided inside the top-twelve. The margin for error on the downhill that proceeded the longest roller section would be extremely small for that of Drake —but he continued to charge into the corner that followed by means of throttle revving and a lapse of engine braking as he continued to power into the apex! Using every rut on the course as a means to bank off of, and carve through with only slight feathering of the clutch, he was continuous with his pursuit of a furthered pace even after the twenty-minute mark of competition. Therefore it was to no one’s surprise as he resided in eighth at the conclusion of this moto, garnering seventh overall for a spectacular day of racing.