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FONTANA, Calif. -- One chance.

That's all Dale Earnhardt Jr. has to make NASCAR's Chase for the Nextel Cup.

And it's not a very good chance at that.

Still, if a wild set of circumstances happen Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway, Earnhardt could slip into NASCAR's expanded chase field.

The odds, though, favor him missing the Chase for the second time in three years.

Jimmie Johnson won Sunday night at California Speedway for his series-high fifth victory of the season, while Earnhardt finished fifth after overcoming a flat right front tire with 40 laps to go.

Carl Edwards finished second with Kyle Busch third and Jeff Burton fourth.

Ricky Rudd, making his 900th career Cup start, was transported to a local hospital after he was collected in a six-car crash.

Rudd, who finished 40th, held his left arm as he walked from his car into an ambulance. No other information was available at press time.

Earnhardt remains 13th in the points standings. The top 12 make the Chase.

Kevin Harvick fell two spots to 12th and leads Earnhardt by 128 points.

The night could have been worse for Harvick. He drove through the six-car crash on lap 180 without being collected.

Rudd's car was collected in the wreck, which started when Jeff Gordon and Jeremy Mayfield made contact on the frontstretch.

Harvick isn't the only driver Earnhardt could catch. He trails 11th-place Kurt Busch by 141 points and 10th-place Martin Truex Jr. by 161 points.

Earnhardt is the only driver outside the top 12 with a chance to make the Chase field. Ryan Newman, who is 14th in points, saw his chances end because of a blown motor.

The most a driver can make up on another in one race is 161 points, and that's if he wins and the drive he's chasing does not finish.

Earnhardt can redeem a disappointing year by rallying to make the Chase.

Earnhardt's personal dispute with his stepmother, Teresa, led to him to say he'll leave the Dale Earnhardt Inc. team after this season.

He won't go with the No. 8, though, a number that's synonymous with him. She's keeping that.

Engine problems and other mistakes on the track and in the pits have slowed what has been a fast car at times in the first 25 races.

That's why Earnhardt faces a one-race playoff to make the 10-race Chase.

The heat on the sport's most popular driver is much like the blast-furnace conditions felt Sunday at California Speedway.

The temperature at the race's start was 100 degrees but with humidity it felt as if it was 104 degrees.

About two hours into the race, conditions made it feel as if it were 100 degrees even as the sun set.

Water temperatures in the cars before the race were not much higher. Teams took extra precautions with wires inside the cars because they were susceptible to melting.

Drivers also cooked.

"I ain't going to be your best friend today," Earnhardt radioed crew chief Tony Eury Jr. 72 laps into the race. "I'm hot in here and aggravated with every little thing."

Even if Earnhardt wins this week at Richmond -- which would snap his career-long 51-race winless streak -- there's no guarantee he'll vie for a title in his final season for his father's race team.

He'll likely need to finish about 25 positions ahead of one of the drivers he's chasing in the points to make NASCAR's 10-race postseason.

Earnhardt's race to make the Chase and catch Kyle Busch, who led more laps than anyone, was done in front of a smaller group of witnesses than typical for most Cup races.

A baked crowd maybe filled two-thirds of the 92,000 grandstand seats at the race's start before many retreated to cooler conditions or the highway back home.

Again, the debate surfaced about why the series dropped the Southern 500 at Darlington three years ago for this track an hour east of Los Angeles. The California track, which has tried to market itself to Hollywood, has not had a sellout since getting the second race.

"I think it's tough that we're not in Darlington right now," car owner Bill Davis said before the race. "We won't come close to selling (California Speedway) out. I understand the market change but if the market change doesn't embrace it, maybe it's not where we need to be."

Stevie Wonder's musical melody before he yelled the command to start engines added a glitzy flavor of this race.

That couldn't help Michael Waltrip, who crashed in a ball of flame after blowing a tire.

And it couldn't help Robby Gordon, who also crashed in a race that exceeded the previous track record of 11 cautions.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dlong@news-record.com