SONOMA, Calif. -- He did not one but two burnouts, the second a swervy, smoky masterpiece down the long straightaway, a true tire-eater that bathed Infineon Raceway in clouds of white. He climbed out of his car, jumped onto the window ledge, and thrust both of his fists in the air. He took the oversized champagne bottle he received in Victory Lane, shook it vigorously, and showered fans hanging over the grandstand railing in bubbly.

Kyle Busch enjoyed this one. And who can blame him? On a sun-splashed afternoon amid the rolling hills of Northern California wine country, the breakout star of this Sprint Cup season proved he could be everything people said he wasn't -- meticulous, careful, and yes, patient. Road-course winners aren't blind hard-chargers who overdrive the car, a label the 23-year-old Busch has been stuck with. He shook it Sunday with every left and right turn he took, keeping the No. 18 car between the rumble strips, evading a spate of late accidents, and running away from some of the best road racers on the planet.

We already knew he was good, we already knew he was fearless, we already knew he was willing to stick the front end of his Toyota anywhere he wanted. But winning a Sprint Cup event on a road course -- something only six other drivers in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 field had managed entering Sunday -- raises everything to another level. Kyle Busch, now the winner of five races this season, is dangerously close to becoming the total package.

Even Jeff Gordon, whose five wins at Infineon are more than any other driver on the 1.99-mile track, seemed surprised. "I'm really impressed with Kyle. I was around him and I watched him, and I don't think he's a very good road racer. I'm kind of shocked, actually," said Gordon, who finished third Sunday thanks in part to an accident that knocked Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick and Jamie McMurray -- all threats beforehand -- out of the running.

"I was really bad one time, and he went by me in the beginning, and he wasn't much better than I was and he was out of control. I think that you've got to give that guy a lot of credit for his talent. To be able to get that car up front and maintain that position ... if you keep it on the racetrack all day, then you get credit from me. I would not have bet on him keeping it on the track all day [Sunday] after watching him over the weekend and watching him that one time when we went by me. Obviously, he's maturing and he's learning. That's what it's going to take for him to maintain that points lead and be a factor and continue to win these races."

It was an unexpected result, for more reasons than one. In opening practice Friday, Busch's car ranked 40th of the 47 that attempted to make the race. His qualifying position of 30th did not bode well; only one past winner at Infineon had come from farther back than 13th. Of course, that was Juan Montoya, who rallied from 32nd last season.

"When we were here Friday, I thought it was going to be a dismal weekend," Busch said. "I was trying to figure out what tire barrier we were going to put it in. It wasn't fun. We came so far. I've never turned a racecar around that much."

And then he drove the heck out of it, powering up through the field on a narrow racecourse that puts a premium on track position, keeping clear of the mishaps that claimed so many other contenders. This from a driver who came up almost exclusively on oval tracks, who competed in only the occasional Legends or Southwest tour event on a road course, who admittedly was lost the first time he tried to pilot one of the heavier Sprint Cup cars at a facility with more than just left turns.

He finished a distant 40th in that first Cup road-course event, here at Infineon in June of 2005. He hasn't finished outside of the top 20 since. He's placed ninth or better in his past four starts on NASCAR's serpentine circuits. He won a Nationwide Series road race at Mexico City in April. His former teammates at Hendrick Motorsports, Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, unknowingly helped to create a monster.

"I got to the Cup cars, and they're so different, I was just lost," Busch said. "I give a lot of that credit to testing with Jimmie and Jeff a lot of the times and learning a lot from those guys when I was at Hendrick and working from there. And more of that expertise goes to Max Papis, who was our test driver at Hendrick, reading his reports and all he did, and just sort of picking up on it. Following guys like Boris Said, following guys like Robby Gordon, the guys who are good at and are fast at it."

At times it was almost clinical, the way Busch stormed through corners made slick by oil dropped in Scott Pruett's late accident, leading 78 of 112 laps and thwarting every challenge at the end. Three cautions marred the final nine laps, setting up a green-white-checkered finish on a racetrack coated with drying agent. If there was ever a time for the immature, impatient, headstrong Kyle Busch to show up, it was then. He coolly drove away, handling the 12 turns like he knew them by heart, winning well by more than a second.

"He's got great skills racing the car, but what he also has -- and I think he's learned this over the last couple of years -- the wherewithal to know when do you push it, when to kind of pull back, when to pace yourself, and all that," said J.D. Gibbs, president of Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing team. "You forget he's only 23. He's mature beyond his years. That's been encouraging for us to kind of watch that."

He's won on difficult racetracks like Darlington and Dover already this season, but winning on a road course is a different feat entirely. Only a very small percentage of Sprint Cup drivers are legitimate threats to do it, and now Busch is part of the club. "It means a lot to be able to put my name on that list, but I'm not going to say I'm a road-course ace or anything," he said. "[Sunday] we were just in the right position at the right time. We had a great racecar, and I was just able to drive it around to a win. It feels special, yes, and hopefully we'll be able to do it again come Watkins Glen."

After Sunday, no one is doubting him. "If he can win here, it's going to boost his confidence," Gordon said. "He's going to think he can win anywhere. And he might be able to."

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.