In his seven years of ATV riding, 14-year-old AJ Hoover has been burned by a hot tailpipe, cut himself open on the handlebars and amassed countless bumps, bruises and scrapes.

But it took a regular bicycle jump to break his jaw.

“Sometimes I tell myself, ‘just do it and whatever happens, happens,’” AJ said on Thursday, taking a break from riding in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area outside Winchester Bay, where his family runs an ATV rental shop. “I think that’s why I broke my jaw.”

Now the adventurous teenager’s jaw has healed, though, and just in time for DuneFest 2008, a good thing since he’s done well at the event.

AJ placed second in two classes of motocross last year, and fifth in drag racing. The two years prior to that, he won drag racing outright and took fourth in motocross one year.

This time around the local rider plans to compete in a slew of events: The gran prix, two classes of motocross, drag racing and the treasure hunt, where riders seek out hidden tickets for prizes.

AJ has been competing for three years now in the amateur World Off Road Championship Series, traveling up and down the West Coast. He regularly finishes in the top third of his class, competing once every three months or so.

“He’s a natural,” said AJ’s father, Greg Hoover, who’s also the chair of the DuneFest Committee. “When he’s riding, everybody sees him out there and notices — he’s a good rider.”

 AJ started riding at the age of 7 with a little 50cc-engine bike, and now he rides on all different kinds of ATVs. He rides most days in the dunes now, although AJ had to take this past summer off while his jaw was wired shut.

“There’s always new stuff to find out here,” AJ said of the Oregon Dunes. “The dunes are always moving around. It’s always new.”

On Thursday, AJ tore around on the sand, popping wheelies, spinning out, jumping a dirt road — goofing off, but showing he’s pretty much fearless on an ATV.

“He does like to ride ’em hard,” said Greg Hoover.  

Recently AJ’s been focusing more on motocross riding, and his second-place finishes last year show he has a knack for it.

So why motocross?

“Because of the jumps, and the close combat racing. And you know if you won right away,” said AJ. “I like seeing if I’m better than other people.”

The 14-year-old said he would love to go pro someday, but he knows how hard that would be.

“It’d be nice, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen,” he said. “It’s like winning the lottery.”