Rusty Wallace crosses the start/finish line in the 2001 NAPA Auto Parts 500. Credit: Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Enduring Performance: California Speedway

Rusty Wallace had been waiting all season for the right moment to pay tribute to Dale Earnhardt.

On what would have been Earnhardt's 50th birthday, Wallace led 90 laps of the 2001 NAPA Auto Parts 500 at California Speedway, including the final 46, to edge Jeff Gordon by .27 seconds for his 54th Cup victory.

	Rusty Wallace holds a No. 3 flag in tribute to Dale Earnhardt. Credit: ASP
	Results 2001 Auto Club 500 Pos. Driver Make 1. Rusty Wallace Ford 2. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 4. Tony Stewart Pontiac 5. Jeremy Mayfield Ford Complete results, click here Cruisin'Rusty Wallace dominates the final 100 laps at Fontana Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

On his victory lap, Wallace held a No. 3 souvenir flag out the driver's side window of his No. 2 Ford. Earnhardt's first NASCAR championship came in a car with No. 2 on the side.

"We had the flag all put together at Rockingham [the week after Earnhardt's crash at Daytona] and my plan was to ride around with the flag and have Richard Childress help me with it," Wallace said. "When we finally won today, that was the first thing I said on the radio. I said, 'Where's that flag?' "

After holding the flag the entire length of the frontstretch, Wallace wondered if he may have done better with a different tribute.

"The doggone thing was so big and so heavy that I couldn't run but about 25 mph," he said.

A crash that sent Ward Burton to the hospital with a possible concussion brought out the final caution with 25 laps to go and gave Gordon one final shot at the win. Even though Gordon was able to stay with Wallace, he didn't have the horsepower to pass him.

"It was like my car would just stop, and everything I tried to do just wouldn't work," Gordon said.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. wound up third, his best finish since running second to Michael Waltrip in the season-opening Daytona 500.

"It made me feel good thinking about him being 50 today, knowing we had a good run," Junior said. "I didn't know what I was going to feel like when his birthday came around or when Father's Day comes around. But I kind of want to celebrate a little bit, I think."

Wallace would win only one more race -- Martinsville in 2004 -- before retiring at the end of the 2005 season. Gordon has three wins at Fontana, while Earnhardt Jr.'s 2001 finish remains his best at California in eight tries.