Dylan Mercure, 12, racing in a recent American Motorcross Association event. (Photo: courtesy of Tom Mercure)

Dylan Mercure thoroughly enjoyed his 12th birthday recently, and no gifts or party were necessary. Mercure was at his home away from home: A motocross race track.

Mercure races a four-wheel, all-terrain vehicle (commonly known as a four-wheeler, ATV, or quad) in the American Motocross Association. On Aug. 22, his birthday, he finished first in the District 14 90 CC modified class at the Battle Creek Motorcycle Club. The victory also was Mecure's last race of an eight-race summer series, and it gave him an edge in the championship standings over his closest competitor.

“He was right on me, so if I made one mistake, he would have passed me,” said Mercure, a seventh-grader at Pathfinder School in Pinckney. Despite the closeness of the race, he said he wasn’t nervous. “Nah ... I just go.”

Mercure’s eyes light up when talking about racing his quad, but it’s his left leg that best tells the story of his passion. A thin layer of grafted-on skin sits where his shin muscles should be. When he flexes his ankle, an already prominent indentation becomes cavernous.

Dylan nearly lost his foot after an accident on the track last year. He rode into a corner, bumped a tire and flipped over his bike. His pants leg became tangled in the ATV’s axle sprockets, trapping his leg under the vehicle and causing a fracture in his tibia and fibula.

“He came close to losing his foot,” said Tom Mercure, Dylan’s father. “We’re pretty blessed to have the hospitals we do around here.”

Dylan endured five surgeries, including a biopsy that rerouted a tendon on the right side of his calf to do the work of one that was ruptured on the left side. Dylan went through months of physical therapy, relearning how to lift his foot. He only asked about one thing during the entire rehab process.

“Every day, he was like, when can I race? When can I race? When can I race.” said Tom. Though admittedly leery to allow Dylan ride again, Tom said the butterflies would have been just as strong had Dylan been hurt playing a “traditional sport.”

“I was nervous as can be, but I’ve seen more people get hurt playing football or other mainstream sports,” Tom said. “What happened was such an unusual thing, so we just kind of looked at it like that and weighed it out with his desire to race.”

And race he has. Nine months after nearly losing his foot Dylan was back on his quad, a new and improved one at that. Tom, an officer with the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office, enrolled in classes at Washtenaw Community College on motorcycle repair, and used his newly acquired skills to build his son’s championship vehicle.

Never a gear head, Tom’s interest in racing and engine repair is akin to a dad who grew up playing football coaching his kid’s soccer team.

“I got into it out of necessity,” Tom said, whose youngest son, Drew, 8, has begun riding as well. Going to races and working on engines has become their father-son activity of choice. “These guys started to race, and I had to learn how to fix the bikes.

“I’m the only dad in the world who wishes their kids played hockey,” joked Tom, in reference to the high costs associated with maintaining the engines. Dylan won’t have it though.

“Nothing compares to racing,” he said.

Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by e-mail at petercunningham@annarbor.com, or by phone at 734-623-2561. You can follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.