Kyle Busch is NASCAR's version of Happy Gilmore

It was a bit reminiscent of that famous scene in Happy Gilmore, the epic Adam Sandler movie about a happy-go-lucky (well, most of time anyway) former hockey player who suddenly found hidden talent as a professional golfer.

In fact, Happy had some anger management issues in the film, now that we think about it -- making the comparison to young Kyle Busch seem all the more relevant.

Anyway, Happy Gilmore hit the ball long and hard right from the start with his unique approach to the golf swing. (He belted it like a slap shot in hockey). It was his putting -- the perfect touch on the greens -- that he lacked.

Eventually he started learning that, too, and then he became almost unstoppable. At one point late in the movie, Happy Gilmore makes a long putt and teases his nemesis, the unforgettable Shooter McGavin.

"It looks like somebody learned how to putt," Sandler's character taunts in a lilting voice.

Well, it looks like somebody has learned how to race on a road course. And in Nationwide cars, Cup "new cars" and Craftsman Truck Series machines as well.

Kyle Busch's latest victory -- in the Corona Mexico 200 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City (read more) -- was merely his latest triumph in an incredible stretch at the start of the 2008 season. It was his third consecutive win in the Nationwide Series, vaulting him to third in the point standings.

Busch also is second in the Sprint Cup Series standings, where in eight starts he has registered one win, four top-fives and five top-10 finishes. His victory came in the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 9.

Furthermore, the guy who once was best known as Kurt Busch's younger brother (these days, it's more like "Kurt who?") is the current leader in points in the Craftsman Truck Series. In four starts in that series, he owns two victories and a second.

In his first season for Joe Gibbs Racing -- in his first season driving a Toyota -- Kyle Busch is creating a Happy Gilmore-style buzz about his overall skill level as a driver. Just how good, really, is this kid?

Another question

There is a long way to go in the 2008 season, and Busch has said repeatedly that he plans to focus on his Cup ride. That's the way it should be. His sponsors on that side -- M&M's and Interstate Batteries -- are forking over huge dollars and deserve the lion's share of his focus.

But wouldn't it be cool to see him attempt to contend for titles all across the board? Baseball has its Triple Crown, but no one has ever even dared to attempt to pull off such a thing in NASCAR. The schedules overlap at times, and it's grueling for any driver who attempts to run in all three series even on those weekends when all three are holding their events at the same venue on consecutive days.

So it isn't likely to happen. But it would still be neat if it did.

Busch was asked if he would consider running for the Nationwide title if he kept winning -- and the question was asked before he even departed for Mexico City.

"The consideration is there, but it's a race-by-race deal for me right now," Busch said then. "If I go out and win a bunch of these in a row, we might reevaluate. ... I have such a blast doing it."

Well, three in a row sure is beginning to seem like a bunch. But even after the latest victory, he wasn't certain about going all-in with his Nationwide ride.

Yeah, but can he putt?

Kyle Busch

2008 Results

	Cup	N'wide	Truck
Starts	8	9	4
Wins	1	3	2
Top-5s	4	5	3
Top-10s	5	5	3
Poles	1	2	0
DNFs	0	2	0
Avg. Start	11.5	8.6	13.8
Avg. Finish	11.0	13.3	7.5
Points	2	3	1

• Stats: Cup | N'wide | Truck

"I'm not going to let anything out of the bag quite yet. I'm not even sure if there's anything left in the bag to let out," Busch said after Sunday's latest victory. He then promised a decision would be made "shortly."

He also said he loves winning and that as long as he's winning, nothing much bothers him. In other words, forget the questions about durability and focus and any tricky travel between events. If he can get to a race and run it, you've got to figure that he's probably going to.

The bigger question is, has anyone ever had a season like this? The kid won't even turn 23 years of age until May 2, and already he has registered a total of 27 victories spread across NASCAR's top three series -- including six in the combined total of 20 starts this season.

History lesson

If there is anyone who has come close to matching the magic Kyle Busch is spinning this season in recent memory, it's Kevin Harvick.

In 2001, when Harvick was forced by tragic circumstances to jump to the Cup side and drive for Richard Childress Racing after the death of Dale Earnhardt in the season-opening Daytona 500, Harvick went on to win what was then known as the Busch Series championship. He also managed to finish a very respectable ninth in the Cup point standings, despite missing the first race.

But even that was different than what Kyle Busch is doing now. In 2001, Harvick made 33 starts and posted five wins on the Nationwide side (we can't keep calling it the Busch Series here, because not only will the NASCAR higher-ups get mad -- but with all the references to Kyle Busch it's only going to get more and more confusing). Harvick made 35 starts on the Cup side and won twice. But Harvick made zero starts in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2001.

When Harvick won the Nationwide Series title again in 2006, he was by then an established star on the larger Cup circuit. His nine Nationwide wins in 35 starts were only one short of the all-time record of 10, set by Sam Ard in 1983. He backed that up with five more wins in Cup racing and finished fourth in points -- but again, did not make a single start in the Truck Series.

Kyle Busch currently is getting it done in all three series. It is an amazing feat.

And now he's winning on road courses, where in the past he had by his own admission struggled. It's like the happy only get happier.

Now he heads to Talladega, where his average finish in six previous Cup starts is only 31.7. His 11th-place finish in the fall of 2006 was the only time he's finished better than 32nd. In last year's spring race, he even finished upside down after a spectacular wreck.

But so what? This is his year. If ever there was a time for him to tame Talladega, it seems this would be it.

The only downside to this weekend is that Busch can't run in all three series, no matter what he desires. The Aaron's 312 in the Nationwide Series is set to at 3 p.m. ET Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway; the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 in the Craftsman Truck Series is slated for 6 p.m. ET at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.

As much of a Superman as Busch has been this season, even he can't be in two places at once. So the plan is for him to run both the Nationwide event and the Aaron's 499 Sprint Cup race at Talladega. It might have the feel of an off weekend for the busy Busch, but it will have to be enough.

Only time will tell just how happy Kyle Busch can get in 2008, but for now he sure seems to be having more fun than even the fictional Happy Gilmore. And this is, remarkably, real-life stuff.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.