Slaw Dog
Toyota Redlands BarX Yamaha’s Derek Drake announced today that he will miss the “first part” of the 2025 Monster Energy Supercross season after being diagnosed with Lyme disease.
He posted the following update on Instagram:
“Well I finally have an answer as to what I’ve been dealing with for the past 4+ years, I’m bummed it took this long to figure it out, but I’m glad I have and answer and can move forward.
“Fortunately/Unfortunately I found out I have Lyme disease, it’s been so frustrating putting in lack luster results and never being happy about my fitness, no matter what I did my results were always the same. Thank you to @barxyamaha @toyotaredlandsmotorsports @tuckerfreightlines for sticking behind me, the team/personnel deserve more than what I have been giving, and I look forward to the day I can do that. For now I want to really get ahold of this and figure out how to go about it. So I will be missing the first part of the season, and I look forward to racing again!”
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection caused by the bite of an infected blacklegged tick and can cause numerous issues including nervous system problems, heart problems and more if left untreated.
Former pro racer Jimmy Decotis also dealt with the disease in the latter portion of his career which caused him to miss races and eventually to step away from racing.
Drake finished the 2024 Monster Energy Supercross Championship in 26th and the SuperMotocross Playoffs 39th.
In 2021, Drake missed time after undergoing heart surgery to fix a rare heart condition. He missed the entire 2024 Pro Motocross season while dealing with a back issue.
Main image: Derek Drake IG
