The luck was finally on Kyle Larson’s side this weekend at the Dover International Speedway. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver was second and fourth respectively in the two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice sessions around the Monster Mile and even qualified his No. 42 Chevrolet in third.

In the race, he’d finish fourth and sixth respectively in the two stages and capitalized on a fast race car with a third place run in Monday’s rain delayed Gander RV 400. While most drivers head to a race hoping to win, this one sure felt like one for Larson, especially with what he’s been through to get here.

This was the first top five finish for Larson in 13 races. It’s now been 58 races since he’s last tasted victory. When Larson won the regular season finale in 2017, he looked like all the hype surrounding him had finally came to fruition. The California native had just won his fourth race of the season to go along with having 11 top two finishes in the first 26 races that year. In the 57 races since, Larson has finished in the top two just seven times, all runner-ups.

His No. 42 Chevrolet had the most speed in it among the Chevrolet camp in 2018. He just didn’t have the end of the season that Chase Elliott had. To start 2019 off with, he finished seventh in the Daytona 500 and led 150 laps in the second race in Atlanta. Unfortunately, a costly mistake on pit road cost him a win as he finished 12th.

His season has been all downhill from that moment on.

Larson, had an early race problem the next week in Vegas and finished 12th again. He then finished sixth a week later in Phoenix and 12th for a third time in four week at Fontana.

In his last five races, Larson has finished – 18th, 39th, 19th, 37th and 24th respectively.

He cut a tire three weeks ago in Richmond and had to pit. His crew didn’t get the sheet metal away from his tires good enough and a few laps later, he cut another tire and crashed. He finished last that night.

Last Sunday at Talladega he was involved in a frightening last lap crash where his car got airborne before making contact with the inside SAFER barrier on the backstretch. While in the air and hitting the wall, Larson’s car started to tumble end over end down the backstretch.

Luckily, he was able to walk away. Unluckily, it was his ninth finish outside of the top 10 in his last 11 starts.

On Monday, his speed stayed around for a top five.

“Oh, yeah, we ran inside the Top 5 all race long,” said Larson after his first top five since last November. “We fought tight early-on, with our Credit One Bank Chevy, but we freed it up and got it to where I felt like I was pretty good. And in the last run there, after cycling through green-flag stops, I was really loose and got stuck in traffic and then was just looser in the dirty air. So, I had to just make sure I hit the bottom lap after lap to hold (Kevin) Harvick off.

“So, it was good to finally have a clean race. I don’t think we’ve had a clean weekend all year long. And we’re 11 weeks into the season. So, it’s good to finally get a clean day, like I said, and thanks to our race team. Our pit crew did a good job today as well. It was a nice day.”

Now, Larson heads to a track where he’s finished in the top five in both races last year and has three top six finishes in his last four starts at Kansas overall. Maybe this is the luck he’s needed.