DOVER, Del. – Kyle Larson had the dominant car but had to settle for second in Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway, his fifth second-place finish of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Larson jumped out to the lead early at Dover, pacing the field for 241 of the races eventual 406 laps, the single most laps the California driver has led in a single race in his Cup career.

“It was a good day for us,” Larson said. “It’s disappointing that I didn’t win, but it’s also positive that we led more than half the race and held off guys on four tires when we had two.”

Larson was in position to go to Victory Lane, leading the race by a wide margin of second-place Jimmie Johnson. But when a caution flag flew with four laps to go, Larson was put into position needing to fend off the field on the final restart of the day.

Unable to clear Johnson on the restart, Larson tried to track down the leader during the two-lap overtime finish, but was running in second when race was ended for a multi-car crash on the backstretch after the leaders passed the overtime restart line, signifying the end of the race.

“I’m disappointed that I didn’t win but I’m proud of the effort that our team put in and proud of myself for the effort I put in most of the race,” Larson said. “Obviously we didn’t need that last caution.”

And despite coming home second again, Larson was complimentary of Johnson, who picked up his 11th win at Dover.

“Jimmie is the best of our time, probably the best of all time,” Larson said. “He just has obviously a lot more experience than I do out on the front row late in races and executed a lot better than I did.”

“I’ve got to get better at that and maybe get some more wins.”

Larson maintains his hold on second-place in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings after 13 events in 2017, nine markers behind leader Martin Truex Jr.