That's what I would have thought. And then I judged at the LA County Fair beer comp last year, in the IPA flight, and lo and behold we awared Drake's No. 1. It wasn't a unanimous pick (I think I had what turned out to be Stone IPA at No. 1 - the beer that turned out to be Racer 5 was a bit high in diacetyl, which the Racer 5 is prone to going overboard on periodically), but it was within the top three for all of us. And we all decided that a brewer that made a really good IPA that was a bit out of the incredibly similiar profiles of all the others deserved some recognition.
We were all stunned after we'd turned in our forms and scores and found out we'd just given Drake's the medal.
Racer 5 has been essentially my house beer for years. I enjoy trying a wide variety of things, but it is so consistently outstanding and nearly perfectly balanced that it's tough to push it away. The one flaw I detect in it, as noted above, is that occasionally the diacetyl levels start creeping a tad high (including in the one I'm drinking at this very moment). It's a nitpick, because it's never excessive, and it adds even further complexity to the beer in most cases (and I'm sure is a contributer to the great mouthfeel).
It may be time to revisit.
And I've tried liking Hoptown, and just can't. Not that it's bad, but there's a little something not quite right there. It's almost like they've managed to find hop astringency.
-Steve