DOVER, Del. — For once, everything that could go wrong didn’t go wrong for Kyle Larson.
No, he didn’t have a race-winning car at Dover International Speedway, but the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet ran solidly in the top five throughout Monday’s rain-delayed Gander RV 400 and rolled across the finish line in third place.
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Remarkably, the top five was Larson’s first of the season, and it came in the 11th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event of the season.
“It was solid,” Larson said. “I thought we ran inside the top five all race long. Fought tight early on. Freed it up. That’s where I feel like I was pretty good.
“The last run there after cycling through green flag stops, I was really loose. Got stuck in traffic. Was just looser in dirty air. Just made my tires pissed off. Had to just make sure I hit the bottom lap after lap to hold (Kevin) Harvick off.”
The handling may not have been perfect, but the result was satisfying.
“Yeah, it was good to finally have a clean race. I don’t think we’ve had a clean weekend all year long. I don’t know, what are we, 11 or 12 weeks into the season. It’s good to finally get a clean day, like I said. Thanks to our race team. Our pit crew did a good job today, as well.
“Nice day.”