OTTUMWA — The sport of SuperMoto racing is picking up speed.

The hair-raising action that the motorcycles in competition produce has been introduced to an ever-increasing audience that is quickly grabbing hold and not letting go.

There are also many blossoming opportunities that await the skilled drivers of the profession.

Major exposure and recognition is starting to sprout up for household names like Mark Burkhart, Chad Reed and Jeff Ward — who have flourished in the hard-charging excitement of the sport.

Each athlete has tasted the sweet smell of success, along with burnt rubber from quickly-expiring tires and plenty of dug-up dirt from the fast, high-flying action.

There’s also Carey Hart, inventor of the “Hart Attack” in freestyle motocross. He’s the star and creator of the much-watched reality show Inked on A&E. He’s married to Pink, the Grammy-winning pop singer — although they’re currently separated.

All these headliners will meet on Aug. 2 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. for one event — the Summer X-Games 14.

Matt Burton of Ottumwa will also be there.

He’s in the mix and is starting to make a major mark in the world of SuperMoto, a combination of road racing (dirt) and motocross.

Burton will be revving up his KTM motorcycle with a chance to shine on the national stage and run with the “big boys” when ESPN2 airs its SuperMoto X-Games race on Saturday, Aug. 2 at 4 p.m.

Burton, 23, has come a long way to get to this point — with this X-Games’ appearance easily being the pinnacle of his career so far.

“When I was little, I was never fast. I was always crashing,” said Burton, recalling when he was about 12 years old. “I actually dreamed something one night and the wheels started turning. I was fast — it was crazy. It totally turned from there.”

Burton rides for R/J Racing, run by his step father — Rick Canode, who is owner and operator of R/J Performance in Ottumwa.

“I just think for a privateer, this X-Games is huge,” said Canode. “The glitz and the glamour, we’re not really into a lot of that, but it’s racing. To be associated with it is big. It’s a big feather for his hat.”

The X-Games drew 38 million TV viewers last year for ESPN, the largest X-Games audience ever for the behemoth from Bristol. Other sports that are featured at the enormous spectacle, which will run from July 31-Aug. 3, are surfing and skateboarding — the latter obviously made hugely popular by a guy by the name of Tony Hawk.