Following last week’s victory in San Diego, Nate Thrasher was ready to repeat his efforts on the dry terrain of Angel Stadium. Believing that he possessed elite speed, he blitzed the whoops with confidence throughout the myriad of practice sessions; trusting the chassis of his Yamaha to propel forward and in a straight line, while his engine revved at the height of his RPM’s. He seemed empowered to execute the opening laps of the first main event with bold maneuvering, doing his best to establish a tone that the latter half of the field couldn’t sustain. Scrubbing his way over the finish line, he was just behind Ryder DiFrancesco before making a move on the rookie as the fourth lap was completed. Then, immersed in a battle with RJ Hampshire, the Husqvarna rider’s speed was too much, through the initial rhythm section and lane of jumps thereafter...therefore the Floridian made the pass stick and pushed Thrasher to second. He then proceeded to mimic the veteran as the race pushed past the three-quarter mark, and as the race eventually came to a close a third-place residency was warranted for the Tennessean. Though down in the opening corner of moto-two, the number fifty-seven would fight through adversity and eventually tag-along, with Jordon Smith. The two teammates were pushing a frantic pace while doing their best to remain smooth; but there wasn’t enough time remaining on the clock to work their way forward, such as in a typical main event. Ultimately finishing tenth, Thrasher would look ahead to the next portion of racing. Taking advantage of a slight mistake on behalf of Levi Kitchen in the opening section of jumps, Thrasher definitively had the lead by the time the field hit the initial platform of moguls. From that point onward, the Tennessean would sail across smooth waters per se, encountering grooves with the perfect amount of balance while traveling from berm to berm with the throttle twisted. His lead over Jo Shimoda and Levi Kitchen never collapsed, and as the final moments neared, the rather uneventful moto was certainly in his favor...he remained upright in the closing stages, eliminating mistakes and going after what only he could obtain; which was the gold medal. And as the checkered flag was thrown, Thrasher’s third moto win propelled him to third overall in the record book — keeping him well within title contention, to end the month of January.