By Mike Harris
Associated Press
Saturday, May 1, 1999; 6:21 p.m. EDT

FONTANA, Calif. – Time ran out on Dale Earnhardt Jr. Saturday as Matt Kenseth picked up a victory in the Auto Club 300 Busch Series race at California Speedway.

Earnhardt, the defending series champion and current points leader, got caught up in a wreck and charged back from a lap down to finish third, trailing Kenseth and Jeff Burton across the finish line as the 150-lap race finished under caution.

The crowd of about 35,000 groaned when Todd Bodine's crash brought out the eighth yellow flag of the day three laps from the end, ending Earnhardt's hopes of coming back to earn his first victory of the season.

Kenseth, who finished second to Earnhardt in last year's standings and still trails the leader by 95 points after the first 10 races of 1999, overcame handling problems to earn his second victory of the season and fifth of his career.

"The car was a little off all day,'' the 27-year-old Kenseth said. "It was pretty bad early, but the final adjustment that we made got it so it was pretty neutral and I was able to get through the corners OK.''

Asked if he could have stayed out front if the track had stayed green to the end, Kenseth said, "I felt like we could hold off Jeff Burton. We were on even ground all day. I don't know about Dale. I hadn't seen him for a while. But it's one thing to catch somebody and another thing to pass him at this track.''

Burton was alongside Earnhardt on the low side of the 2-mile, slightly-banked oval when Earnhardt tried to squeeze past the lapped car of Hank Parker Jr. on lap 119 and spun into the infield grass, losing a lap.

Earnhardt, who led three times for a race-high 81 laps, was 11th on the restart after the caution. He passed leader Elliott Sadler to regain his lost lap moments before Jason Keller's spin ignited a three-car crash on lap 128.

Following the next restart on lap 132, Earnhardt charged from 11th to third in seven laps.

There was one more restart on lap 145, but Earnhardt, who had lost third gear, fell back just enough on the start that he wasn't able to challenge the two leaders before the final caution.

"Earnhardt had the best car, but he got himself into trouble on the back straightaway,'' Burton said. "I was real loose on new tires and I might have been able to keep him behind me (if it had stayed green).''

The disappointed Earnhardt, who will make his Winston Cup debut May 30 in Charlotte, said, "I should be real, real thankful that we brought it back to where we did. I was real mad at myself and I just hope my guys aren't still too made at me.

"At least we got it back toward the front and got some good points.''

Kenseth, driving a Ford Taurus, averaged 119.96 mph. He led three times for 28 laps, including the final 18, and won $73,200.

Rookie Adam Petty, the first fourth-generation driver in NASCAR, had a career-best fourth-place finish. Elliott Sadler followed the 18-year-old Petty across the finish line.

Jason Jarrett, the son of Winston Cup star Dale Jarrett, and Phil Parsons both were taken to Loma Linda Medical Center for further examination after a four-car wreck in turn two on lap 17. Track officials said both were awake and alert but complaining of "concussion-like symptoms.''