Drayke Sizemore Refuses to Lose; Du Quoin 17-Year-Old Destined for the Pro Motocross Ranks
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[There's a new hero among us and he's destined for a professional career in motocross racing.
The more than 500 plaques and trophies that 17-year-old Drayke Sizemore has won since first straddling the seat of a Suzuki 50cc bike at the age of two fill two rooms at the home of his parents Marty and Stacey Sizemore.
Fourteen motorcycles later, the soft-spoken Sizemore has won everything the Midwest has to offer in the way of amateur racing in the "B" Class. Drayke moves up to Class "A" next year and is destined to be a role model in the professional ranks in the years ahead.
The sacrifices run deep in this high quality family so Drayke can do what he loves to do--race! Motocross racing has become a family affair and everyone can be proud of the way they've gone about it.
As for Drayke, he sat on his first motorcycle at the age of two and has been racing since the age of four. There are so many trophies in the Sizemore home--one of them standing six-feet tall and several four and five feet tall--the Sizemores have lost count. There are so many wooden plaques Stacey says she may have to resort to peeling the metal plates off the front of them and placing them in a photo album--sort of the brass Kodak Moments of lives well-lived.
One of the largest trophies was for winning the Moto Midwest Series--a huge amateur competition.
"We've knocked over a few trophies ," Stacey smiles as someone heads through the house at night in the dark.
Just before last weekend's race meet on the new Indian Hills track at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds, the Sizemores took delivery on a new Honda CRF 450 motocross bike. A matching bike that Drayke will use to compete in the 250 Class will arrive this week. It's the first time in his racing career that the equipment will match his talent.
The Sizemores add that even though there is some criticism of new track at the fairgrounds, the attitudes will change next year when a national amateur event will pour thousands of riders, fans and dollars into Du Quoin's economy. The Sizemores cross paths with track developer Allen McWilliams in their travels and he knows his stuff in the motocross racing industry. They say Du Quoin will be surprised at what this does for the area.
Last weekend, Drayke competed in eight events at Du Quoin--and won ALL eight!
In one race blended with both Class "A" and Class "B" riders he impressed even the most seasoned competitors by hitting the right notes on every jump and tabletop on the track. Kids already look up to him as a hero. Drayke is a man of few words, but he makes every word count.
"He's not cocky and he doesn't get the big head," says Stacey. The family oft-time rolls to a meet in the same extended cab truck his dad uses in his sheet rocking work to save money.
Drayke pulls on his riding boots and puts a helmet on his head, then like an NBA basketball star slipping onto a lighted court in a park somewhere he beats every unsuspecting rider around him. He and his Honda become one. He has the look. He has the athleticism. He has the finesse of a soft-spoke champion.
And, now he has a sponsor--Full Tilt Racing of Belleville, Ill.--which will provide him with the money for the incidentals that before taxed the family budget. Suddenly, this caring family can worry about the money a little less and the racing a little more. It puts Drayke one step closer to the pro ranks.
The family travels to larger meets with a 22-foot "toy hauler" in tow. "We cook out. We have a lot of friends. We're a racing family," says Stacey. That includes Drayke's sister, Kylee.
Drayke wants his dad Marty back on a motocross bike. "Dad broke a toe and quit," teases Drayke. It's one of those family secrets they all smile about while knowing that dad could blow everybody off the track, as well, if he wanted to. "I'm afraid of 'em," says Stacey of the high performance bikes. That's just a mother's love talking. She's trackside with the rest of them.
Drayke has paid his dues along the way. He's had a broken ankle, a broken collar bone and a separated sternum. The day he broke his ankle, the bike went down, Drayke picked it up and kick-started it, then rode the last two laps with the broken ankle to win the race.
He defines "fearless" in a high quality way.
Younger riders just starting out come up to Drayke and tell him all the time, "We love to watch you ride." Parents stand nearby and nod in agreement.
Marty and Stacey and Drayke and KyLee live their lives as if every lap counts and along the way they have given the people in Du Quoin a new hero to look up to.
You are in the town's debt as yet another family putting the City of Du Quoin on the map. God's speed every time you kick start those new Hondas--and good luck!