Notebook: Junior miffed, but makes comeback

FONTANA, Calif. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. said that despite recovering from changing an engine Sunday morning and coming back from a lap down to finish sixth, he was still a little peeved.

After taking the green flag in 38th due to the engine change, Earnhardt was in the top-five after only 46 laps. But his hopes went out the window when a lug nut error on a lap 204 pit stop necessitated a second stop, and lost him a lap.

AUTO CLUB 500  •  Results  •  Standings  •  Photo Gallery  •  Wallace good, but not good enough at Fontana  •  Wrecks spark plenty of cautions at Fontana  •  Engine problem puts Stewart up in smoke

"I'm mad because we had a great car and we really screwed up in the pits," Earnhardt said. "We cannot keep doing things to beat ourselves like that. I want to apologize to my crew guys because I was really, really hard on them on the radio, but at the same time they need to know that we can't keep doing that."

"On one hand, it was a championship-type day. When we had trouble, we did what we had to do to get back all we could (and) that's what you need to do to win a title."

Breakthrough for Ganassi Racing

As incredible as it seems, Sunday's Auto Club 500 was the first time this season two Ganassi Racing cars had finished in the top 10. Jamie McMurray had a potential race-winning car and led six times for 41 laps before finishing fifth. Sterling Marlin, in a backup car, came back for 10th.

McMurray scored his second top-five but only his third top-10 of the year and Marlin, his third straight top-10 and fourth in the last five races.

"We never could adjust on it and get the balance right," McMurray said. "We freed the car up and it would be too loose at the beginning and too loose at the end (of a run). We just needed the long runs."

	Jamie McMurray led the pack for the first time in 2003. Credit: Autostock

Marlin was pleased with his finish, but focused on the big picture.

"That's another top-10 finish, but we still lost a spot in the standings," Marlin said after dropping from 12th to 13th. "We didn't get a lot of practice with this car yesterday and we hadn't raced it since Atlanta (so) I guess that's not too bad starting from the rear of the pack."

Needing a few more laps

Bill Elliott scored only his second top-10 of the season when he guided his No. 9 Dodge into fourth, but he was looking for a few more laps after finishing strong.

"We had some lug nut problems and lost track position," Elliott said. "As good as everybody runs, it's just hard to get up through there, but that last set of tires was really hooked up good. I don't know if I could have beat the 97 (race winner Kurt Busch), but I believe I could have beat those other two cars if I just could have got to 'em."

	Bill Elliott broke through with his first top-five of 2003. Credit: Autostock

Team owner Ray Evernham was disappointed when Elliott's teammate Jeremy Mayfield was eliminated in a nine-car accident with less than 15 laps to go, but remained optimistic.

"We're getting our deal turned around," Evernham said. "I know people are saying we're not doing so good and probably we're not, but our deal is stronger than it was last year and these guys are doing a good job. We're just going to shut up and work and get it turned around."

Nadeau a fighting 14th

Jerry Nadeau spun twice in his No. 01 Pontiac but never hit anything and finished 14th, on the lead lap Sunday. Most significantly, his run was in MB2 Motorsports' first in-house chassis, which was fourth in its debut last month at Texas Motor Speedway.

VIDEO CLIPS Dale Jr. battles a loose car and McMurray leads his first race of 2003 Play video The Budweiser crew has trouble with Junior's Chevy in the pits Play video

"We had an easy top-10 car, but we had a lot of things happen to us that made it difficult," said Nadeau, who had to give up his sixth-place starting spot after a Saturday engine change. "The guys did a great job and we all hung in there together. We made the best of it and I really feel this team is starting to jell. There will be better days."

"The car was loose and I was on the edge," Nadeau of his two twirls. "I was just happy to finish the race in one piece."

Harvick gets a hometown win

Limits on testing are the talk of the NASCAR Winston Cup garage, but a recent test session paid off for Kevin Harvick when he won a 75-lap Late Model race Saturday night at his hometown Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif.

Harvick flew with another Mesa Marin icon, Ron Hornaday, to the high-banked half-mile bullring after they both competed in the Busch Series race at California Speedway.

	Kevin Harvick

Harvick, who won the Mesa Marin Late Model championship as a 17-year-old student at Bakersfield's North High, started near the rear of the 23-car field and led the final 10 laps after a side-by-side duel with local Mike Riale.

After Riale suffered a flat tire, Harvick prevailed over Brian Richardson and Hornaday, who drove a car entered by local car builder Gary Collins.

Harvick's performance mirrored a similar victory in his last appearance at Mesa Marin, one year ago. He told Bakersfield writer Mike Griffith that he retaliated after local Mike Mason, 16, hit him before a restart. The youngster hit Harvick's car again on the cool-off lap, Griffith reported.

"I don't know who 55 (Mason) was but he was trying to make a name," Harvick said. "He came up and ran into me on the restart and I brake-checked him and he got spun out.

"He was mad. If you're going to mess with the bull, you're going to get the horn. Everybody's got to learn their lesson some time or another."

Andrews a proud poppa

Winston Cup crew chief Paul Andrews was showing some pride from across the country Sunday evening after his son, Busch North Series rookie Tim Andrews, scored a fourth-place finish in that NASCAR Touring division's opener, the Freedom 150 at Lee (N.H.) USA Speedway.

Defending series champion Andy Santerre won the event.