When Kyle Bennett was 7, his doting grandparents introduced him to BMX, known for its fast start, big air and crashes. Now 21 years later, the rider who is envied for his explosive start and smooth style is pumped about introducing the sport to the Olympics.

GOLD STANDARD: A look at what drives Kyle Bennett
"It's going to be action packed from start to finish," said Bennett. "We're going to be reaching speeds of up to 40 mph, jumping big jumps 30 feet long and, of course, there are going to be crashes."

Don and Betty Collins raised Bennett in their modest home north of Houston because his mother was 17 when he was born. "They're my parents and grandparents all rolled into one," said Bennett.

They loaded up the station wagon and drove him to races all over the South, using the backseat for a bed. They encouraged him to practice day and night, turning their big backyard into a race course so he would not have to go far to practice. They would climb into the grandstand at the local track, Armadillo BMX, and watch him race.

"I'm real proud of him," said Collins as he sits with Bennett outside his house. "He's my beloved grandson. When he first started, I'd say to him, 'Just don't give up.' If he lost, I'd say, 'Don't worry. You've got another one coming up.' "

Bennett must have been listening to the man he calls "Pepa." Bennett, who is the national champion and has won three world titles, is one of the favorites to win a medal when the sport makes its Olympic debut next month. The USA will send a deep three-man team with two of the top-three riders in the world rankings, Donny Robinson at No. 1 and Bennett at No. 3. Mike Day is ranked 11th.

Bennett has made his mark on the sport with a style that has won him the nickname "Butter."

"I got that nickname when I first turned pro," said Bennett. "A couple older guys gave it to me, saying I was smooth, like butter, on my bike. I think it's a good nickname. It's stuck with me."

Mike King, USA Cycling's director of BMX, said, "From a visual perspective, he just looks like he's effortless when he rides."

BMX, short for bicycle motocross, started in the early '70s, although no one knows exactly where it was invented in the USA. A popular theory is that kids in southern California were copying their motorcycle heroes on dirt tracks they made themselves. The 1971 motorcycle racing documentary On Any Sunday launched the movement. In the opening scene, kids are shown riding their Schwinn Stingrays off-road. By adding BMX to the Olympic lineup, organizers hope to attract sponsors and younger fans as snowboarding did when it was added to 2002 Winter Games.

Like all action sports, BMX has plenty of chaos.

Groups of eight race on a 1,150-foot course, on small bikes that have one gear and 20-inch tires.

GRAPHIC: The Beijing BMX course, turn-by-turn
Riders start on the Beijing course shooting down a 26-foot ramp, racing over 20 jumps — the longest being 35 feet — and several straightaways and three hairpin curves. Ten meters wide at the start, the course narrows to five meters in spots. The race is fast, lasting 40-45 seconds.

Bennett's goal is to leave the gate first.

"It's such a rush," he said. "To me 90% of the race is won from the start. In the blink of an eye, you mess up, you get a bad start, you get cut off out the gate it's not necessarily over, but your chances are slim to catch back up."

"I'm not going to lie," said Bennett. "Every time I get up on that starting hill, I'm scared. It's a risk you're going to take. If you love your sport as much as I do, you're willing to take that."

King has been working with Bennett to make the transition to the steep start on the Olympic course. Starting slopes on traditional tracks, where he had much of his success to make the Olympic team, are about 8 feet.

"If we can shave a half second off his time at the start, he's going to be really hard to beat," said King.

Olympic teammate Mike Day says after the start, Bennett's first straightaway is "out of control.

ROSTER:  Bennett's cycling teammates
"There are a lot of guys that ride the track really good or ride certain spots of the track good, but Kyle can do everything," Day said. "Everyone has one niche, but he's got all the niches."

Bennett is 6-0, 180 pounds with a torso as strong as his titanium bike frame. He attends camps at the training center in Chula Vista, Calif., where the course is identical to the Olympic venue in Beijing. But, mostly he tries to keep workouts fun and "not so serious." He practices on the street in front of his house where he lives with a couple of friends and his bulldog puppy named Dizz.

"Neighbors would be standing out there thinking, 'What's this guy doing, a grown man out there riding his bicycle,' " said Bennett. "But after I won the world championships, it came out in the paper. The neighbors came out and said, 'That's awesome. You're going to be in the Olympics.' I'm getting some respect from them. Now, I'm not just some punk kid out there riding my bike."

For practicing jumps and fine-tuning his race maneuvers, he goes to his grandfather's course and the Armadillo BMX course. He also rides a road bike for endurance, goes to skate parks and lifts weights.

"Our training is a lot of explosive-type workouts," said Bennett. "We're doing a lot of squatting, a lot of powerlifting-style movements."

How he handles another big part of the sport, the intensity and danger, seems to come naturally to him.

"He's so laid-back, goes with the flow, doesn't stress too much on anything," said BMX racer Bubba Harris.

Bennett's grandfather, who was stationed with the Air Force in London during World War II, has the same unshakable poise. He is always ready with a joke, like the one he recently told a visitor. "One time, my wife told me she was leaving me, so I packed my bag. 'Where are you going?' she asked. I said, 'I'm going with you because I can't live without you.' "

Family is important to Bennett, who says he stays close to his grandfather and mother, who lives next door to Collins now. His stepfather, John Purse, was a pro BMX racer and used to ride with Bennett. He plays tennis with an uncle regularly. He spends time with his infant daughter, Kyley, who lives nearby with his ex-wife Ashley.

Is Kyley likely to ride the course at her great-grandfather's someday?

"No, but I'll play tennis with her," said Bennett, who has broken his foot and collarbone, torn a meniscus and ruptured an ACL during BMX events.

He is healthy going into the Olympics and plans to keep competing professionally for the Free Agent team. But eventually, he will develop 16 acres he bought five years ago near his grandfather's house.

"I want to build a (BMX) training facility and work with kids," said Bennett. "That's what I plan on doing in a couple years. It's all I know. It's what I've done since I was 7 years old."

Then grandparents and parents will pile their kids into the back of their cars to go to Bennett's track and learn from one of the legends who helped introduce BMX to the Olympics.

(USA TODAY)