At age 11, Dustin Healey has already been blessed by success.

When the White Hall resident fails to reach in the top three of almost any motorcycle race, it's an unusual occurrence.

"I've got 60-something trophies," Healey said proudly.

As good as he's been in past seasons, this year is promising to shape up as his best yet. He already owns seven first-place finishes thus far in competitions held in Maryland and Pennsylvania that stretch from April through December.

"There are probably 30 races a year and he may win 15 or 20 of them," said Dustin's father Warren. "He doesn't win all the races, but he wins a lot of the time. He just keeps getting better and better."

In mid-June, Dustin won the Northeast Nationals, held in Susquehanna, Pa. He competed in the 7-11 age division driving at speeds up to 60 mph against racers from throughout the mid-Atlantic area.

That stellar performance advanced the Seventh District Elementary School fifth-grader to the American Motorcycle Association Grand Nationals in Illinois, where he placed second overall among 16 competitors early last month.

"The people at nationals were a lot faster than all the other people I have raced," said Dustin, who is in his fourth year of the sport.

In early August, he won another race -- part of a regional series -- in Susquehanna.

Healey's accomplishments have come despite being one of the physically less imposing racers around, at 4 feet and 56 pounds.

"He is the smallest kid out there," Warren Healey said. "He probably looks like a seven- or eight-year-old. A lot of the kids he races look a lot older than him."

Flat track racing is a big commitment for the Healey family.

Dustin's bike, which has a 65 cubic centimeter engine, costs about $5,000, according to Warren Healey.

Dustin also has a $6,000 bike with an 85 cc engine.

"About every 10 races you have to tear the engine apart," the elder Healey said. "The bikes have to have a lower suspension and flat track tires."

The upkeep and maintenance are expensive and time consuming.

Healey, who also plays soccer in the Hereford rec program, got into racing after watching his next-door neighbor, Jeremiah Snow, 12, at an indoor track in Timonium.

"It looked really fun so I thought I would try it," Dustin said. "I have kept on racing."

Dustin rides his bike daily in trails around his house. There's also a makeshift dirt track in his front yard.

"If you get up to the higher levels, you can be a pro," Dustin said.

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