Sometimes it’s not so much who you are as where you are. And now Kyle Busch, who will turn 23 Friday, is exactly where he needs to be.

There’s never been any question about his talent. After all, this was a guy who earned a ride in a Roush Racing Craftsman Truck Series Ford when he was only 16.

Temper and maturity issues are what have dogged Kurt’s younger brother — issues that made some wonder if he had what it took to be one of the greats in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition.

Those problems are what likely caused his divorce from Hendrick Motorsports.

But just a few races into the 2008 season, none of that seems to matter anymore. Driving a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, the question now is not how many championships he’ll win, but if he’ll win his first this year.

The guy has about as much natural talent as any driver I’ve ever seen.

“When we tested at Atlanta in the fall we realized we had something really personal there,” Gibbs said. “There’s a lot of things that really fit in that package. And first and foremost, you have to have that guy behind the wheel, and he just has a natural talent for it.”

With last Sunday’s Talladega victory Busch already has two checkers in 2008, and the best could be yet to come. Not only has he turned out to a solid addition to a camp that already had Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin in its fold, he’s quickly becoming the point man.

“I knew that I was getting with a great organization who had been in contention to win championships in all of their years pretty much in racing, with Tony being as good as he is, contending for the championships for the past however many years,” Busch said. “And with Denny only being two years in the series, I think with my ability and the cars that these guys have, hopefully it will all work out and the chemistry would be there and it would click and so far it has.”

Busch insists there are no hard feelings with Hendricks, who replaced him with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in hopes of forming a super team. In fact, Rick Hendrick came over and chatted with him before the Aaron’s 499.

“I left there on some pretty good terms with all the guys,” Busch said. “I’ve got a lot of great friends over there in that organization with the guys that are on the team, and guys that are in resources and everything like that. Rick came over to the car and wished me good luck.

“So there’s no hard feelings there or no shoving it in their face saying I’m better than you or anything like that. It’s just to go out there and do the best I possibly can for myself and for these guys with Job Gibbs Racing - that’s who I’m driving for now.”

He had earned the nicknames “Shrub” for being Kurt’s younger brother and “Wild Thing” for his daring (some might say dangerous) driving style.

Soon Kyle Busch might simply be known as “champ.”

“That’s just been the greatest satisfaction, being able to come over here to Joe Gibbs Racing,” he said. “It’s just been the chemistry has worked, all the guys, they are great to work with, guys on the team, guys in the shop are very cool and everybody is out for one thing and that’s to make Joe Gibbs Racing be No. 1.”