Earnhardt Dominates Like Dad

Dad would have loved to have been there to see it, but he was off deep-sea fishing in the Bahamas.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. put on a demonstration of racing that must have reminded many of the estimated 45,000 fans what it was like when Dale Earnhardt dominated Winston Cup racing by winning seven championships.

This time it was Busch Grand National racing, but Dale Jr. was every bit as dominating Sunday in winning the Kenwood Home & Car Audio 300 at California Speedway in Fontana as his father had ever been. Of the 150 laps run around Penske Motorsports’ D-shaped two-mile oval, Earnhardt Jr.’s blue No. 3 Chevrolet led 141 of them. The only time he was not in front was when he was in the pits.

The remarkably easy win in a car owned by his stepmother, Teresa, moved the 23-year-old, third-generation driver to the front of every statistical category in Busch Grand National. He took over the series lead by six points over Matt Kenseth, who finished third. Kevin Lepage was second.

“The car just came to life today,” said Earnhardt. “I wasn’t real pleased with the qualifying setup, but today it responded any time I wanted.”

He started second but beat pole-sitter Robert Pressley off the starting line and never looked back. Pressley finished 15th.

Three yellow caution flags served to slow Earnhardt more than the opposition. At times his lead was more than 10 seconds, only to be wiped out by a yellow flag. At the end he was 6.76 seconds ahead, pulling away with each lap.

“When he wanted to leave, he just stepped on the gas,” said Lepage. “He was driving the way Jeff Gordon does in Winston Cup. When he’s on a roll, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Earnhardt averaged 148.48 mph for the two-hour, one-minute, nine-second race. This broke Todd Bodine’s year-old record of 145.083 mph. The win was worth $68,175.

It was Earnhardt’s fourth win this season and his second on a superspeedway after also winning at Texas. His other wins were on the high-banked oval at Dover Downs and the flat mile at Milwaukee.

Earnhardt earned the nickname “Dominator” with a one-sided win at Milwaukee, but Sunday’s was even more so.

“I just hope you all keep on having a reason to call me the Dominator,” said a grinning Earnhardt. “I know I need experience to back up talent, but if I get a little more mature on and off the race track, this team will be able to do anything.”

The race was as dull as it was one-sided. For lap after lap, cars paraded single-file around the huge track looking more like they were practicing than racing. Over the last 40 laps, after positions had been established following the last pit stop, there was not a single pass among the top 10 cars.

On lap 110, it was Earnhardt, Lepage, Kenseth and Phil Parsons in Chevrolets, David Green in a Pontiac, Jeff Purvis, Elliott Sadler, Mark Krogh, Joe Bessey and Mike Dillon in Chevrolets--and that’s precisely how they finished.

Elton Sawyer, in 12th, was the first Ford finisher. His wife, Patty Moise, finished 32nd.

Thirty-six of the 43 starters were still running at the finish, but only seven were on the lead lap.

Among the favorites, Winston Cup regular Dale Jarrett dropped out early because of engine problems, defending champion Todd Bodine lost a lap when a crewman failed to tighten lug nuts and a tire came off when Bodine left the pits, and pre-race points leader Mike McLaughlin lost ground when his hood started flapping and he had to pit to have it taped down.