It wasn't long ago that the Dungey family ruled the pits of amateur motocross. With Jade, Ryan and Blake all racing at a national level, a big race didn't go down without the Dungey clan staking claim on it. Fast-forward a few years and Ryan is tearing it up in the Lites class, Jade works on bikes as part of Ryan's camp and Blake's appearance at the amateur nats has been spotty at best.

We saw a much taller Blake show up at Lake Whitney last year, his long legs nearly banging the handle bars of his 85 as he competed for top honors in the 12-13 and Supermini classes. Soon after Whitney we saw him in Texas practicing on a KX 125. Too tall for his 85s, Blake had decided to make the move to the big bike full time. He hadn't planned on racing the World Mini Grand Prix in Las Vegas because he wanted the proper amount of time to get comfortable on the bigger frame of the 125. But when we didn't see him on the registration list at Ponca or Loretta's, we began to wonder.

Blake has fought off the injury bug the last few seasons, but is confident in his ability to move forward and follow in his brothers footsteps. He may have been down for the last few months, but he's far from out. He has the potential to make his mark on this sport, and after hearing the conviction in his voice during our phone conversation, we wouldn't bet against him.

Last time we saw you ride you were at the Bobby Hewitt's testing out your new big bikes on the circle track. What happened?
Well, I had a knee injury. It was an injury from last summer on 80s. They said I didn't need surgery on it, but then Lake Whitney came around and I was complaining about it. I decided to suck it up there, but after my regionals I went and had it checked out and they said I needed surgery.

Was it your ACL?
No, what happened was, last summer when I hurt me knee I broke a piece of the growth plate. That eventually healed back together, but it was interfering with the growth of my femur, so they had to go in and fix it. Once in they found out that my meniscus was also torn in a few places, so they went ahead and fixed that as well. Right now I've got a metal plate and seven screws in my leg.

When did you have the surgery?
The Monday after the Millville pro national.

So it's still pretty fresh, huh?
Yeah. I'll be OK to walk on it in about two weeks, but for now I'm just walking around on crutches.

When will you be able to ride again?
I should be back on the bike towards the end of November or the beginning of December.

Will you be on big bikes full time when you get back?
Yeah, I'll be riding the Intermediate and School-Boy classes.

Will you be back for Lake Whitney?
Yeah, I kind of wanted to do Mini O's, but my knee isn't going to be ready for that. Since I'm not going to be able to make that, I want to come back [at Whitney] and be one of the top guys out there. I don't want to be an underdog. I just want to be up front with [Ian] Trettel and all those guys.

Are there any plans to ride outside of Minnesota over the winter?
Yeah, once I get back I'll probably either go down and stay with my brother in Florida, or head down to Shannon Niday's down in Texas.

Good deal, bud. We can't wait to see ya back on the bike. Good luck.
Thanks, I can't wait to get back.