JUNIOR'S ON A ROLL; YOUNGER EARNHARDT EARNS FOURTH VICTORY OF SEASON.

Byline: Steve Ramirez San Gabriel Valley Tribune

If not the ``The Intimidator II,'' how about ``The Dominator?''

``That sounds good,'' said Dale Earnhardt Jr., who easily won Sunday's NASCAR Busch Grand National Kenwood Home & Audio 300 before an estimated crowd of more than 50,000 at California Speedway. ``It's a good nickname. Hopefully, it will stick. I've got a T-shirt that says, `Here to dominate, not intimidate.' Maybe it will start to sell now.''

Especially after Sunday's event, which saw Earnhardt lead all but 10 of the 150 laps and finish a healthy 6.76 seconds ahead of second-place Kevin Lepage for his fourth victory of the year. Matt Kenseth was third. Palmdale's Lance Hooper was 26th.

Winston Cup regulars Michael Waltrip and Dale Jarrett finished 23rd and 37th, respectively. Jarrett, who retired early in the California 500 at this track in May, went out in lap 79 because of engine failure.

``The AC Delco team just gave me an awesome race car today,'' said Earnhardt, who leads the Busch Grand National season standings by six points over Kenseth. ``It was pretty fast in qualifying, and I'm not too comfortable with our qualifying setup, running tape on the nose and the grill. But I know if we're good then, when we pull that tape off, the car really comes to life. That was the case today. As soon as they dropped the green flag, that thing was no holds barred.''

Earnhardt didn't waste any time.

He took the lead from polesitter Robert Pressley before the end of the opening lap, then increased it to over seven seconds before the caution flag was brought out on lap 30 because of debris.

The 22-year-old, who is in his first full season on the NASCAR Busch Grand National circuit, held the lead on the restart and was able to increase his edge to 10.36 seconds before pitting on lap 96.

Earnhardt, who dropped to 10th after taking on four tires and fuel, then moved up to fourth when the caution came out on lap 100.

Todd Bodine, who was recently released from his Winston Cup ride, caused the caution when his left front tire fell off his Slim Jims Chevrolet and on to the track.

Bodine, who won this event last season, dropped a lap down after driving the car around the track slowly on the apron before making an additional pit stop. He was unable to threaten again, finishing 33rd.

``It's a real shame,'' said Bodine, who had moved up to second before the incident. ``That's part of racing. Anybody can make a mistake. I just feel sorry for our guys. Finally we get to run up front, and we make a mistake.''

Earnhardt and Lepage were the beneficiaries as Jeff Purvis and Elliott Sadler made pit stops, putting Earnhardt in the lead and Lepage in second.

Lepage, who recently signed on to race on the Winston Cup circuit with Jack Rousch Racing, was able to shadow Earnhardt over the next few laps before clipping the wall on 117.

He began the restart in third, slipped by Kenseth on lap 106 and moved within .55 seconds of Earnhardt on lap 110.

Lepage was just .29 seconds behind Earnhardt when they came to lap 116.

``He got a hold of my draft,'' Earnhardt said. ``I think in that respect, this track is as big as Daytona or Talladega (Ala.). I was trying to shave the draft off, but every time I moved around, it actually created a bigger hole for him to draft off of. So I just tried to be patient and go fast.''

So was Lepage, who appeared to get even closer before tagging the wall on the exit of turn four.

``I noticed he was carrying the car in the corners,'' Earnhardt said. ``He was probably using me to judge where to get off the gas and get back on the gas. I think after four laps I kind of lulled him into a trance, I think.''

``I was just trying real hard to run (Earnhardt) down,'' Lepage said. ``I think I pushed it a little too hard and caught the wall. It just hit the wall a little bit, no damage, but I think it took some of the down force away. It got real tight after that and I couldn't run with him after that.

``We decided that we would try for second and, for us, finishing second here is like winning.''

So to for Kenseth, whose third-place finish gave him a 76-point edge over third-place Mike McLaughlin in the season standings.

``We'd love to win every week,'' Kenseth said. ``That's what we do this for, is to win. But we had a decent car today and had a solid run. We got beat really bad by Dale Jr. and pretty bad by Kevin, but overall we're just six points back in the championship, and that's pretty good.''

DALE EARNHARDT JR. BY THE NUMBERS

1: Earnhardt's position in Busch season points.

2: Number of whiskers on his boyish face.

3: Racing number he shares with his dad.

4: Number of Busch wins this season, twice as many as any other

driver.

6.76: Number of seconds by which he won Sunday's race.

23: Age in years.

148.58: Average speed of Sunday's win in mph.

357: Times each day he is compared to his famous father.

2000: The year he anticipates going full-time to Winston Cup.

50,000: Estimated number of fans who watched Earnhardt's win.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Box

PHOTO (1--Color) Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his crew enjoy the moment after his victory in the Kenwood 300 at California Speedway. Earnhardt now sits atop the season standings.

(2--Color) It was a familiar sight: Dale Earnhardt Jr. led for all but 10 of the 150 laps of the NASCAR Busch Grand National Kenwood Home & Audio 300 on Sunday and finished 6.76 seconds ahead of second-place Kevin Lepage for his fourth victory of the year. Matt Kenseth was third. Palmdale's Lance Hooper was 26th.

John Lazar/Special to the Daily News

BOX: DALE EARNHARDT JR. BY THE NUMBERS (see text)