Kyle Larson is looking to keep luck on his side in playoff race at the Monster Mile

DOVER, Del. – Kyle Larson has had his fair share of experience with the unpredictable nature of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Last season, Larson took one of the best cars into the Round of 12 in the playoffs, but he blew an engine in a race in Kansas City, finished 39th, and ultimately was eliminated.

A week ago at the Charlotte road course, Larson thought he had a chance to win and gain an automatic qualifying into the Round of 12. Then he was involved in a massive crash that virtually destroyed the No. 42 of Chip Ganassi Racing with six laps to go. His chance of staying in the playoffs seemed done.

Fueled by competitive desire, the Ganassi garage pieced enough of the car back together in hopes that Larson could at least finish the race running. Larson needed to complete three laps in his crippled car. Then with less than one to go, a miracle occurred.

Daniel Hemric clipped Jeffrey Earnhardt, causing his car to spin and then stall. As Larson puttered around the track and calculated the points, he knew that if Earnhardt was able to restart his car and cross the finish line, the playoffs were done. Earnhardt did not, and Larson gained a precious point that left him tied with Jimmie Johnson and Aric Almirola for the final two points.

Because of higher finishes during the regular season, Larson and Almirola advanced to the Round of 12, which will begin Sunday with the Gander Outdoors 400 at Dover International Speedway.

"With that crash, I had a ton of damage," said Larson, who bounced off the wall before passing Earnhardt because of a lack of steering control. "I was lucky my crew was able to put the car together to the point it would drive.

"I was also lucky that we only had to do three laps because it wasn't going to make four. Hopefully, that means something for us and we can take advantage of that and have a good rest of the playoffs."

Larson starts the Round of 12 in 10th place with 3,006 points. After the next three races, the field will be cut to eight, and Larson is just six points out of the final spot.

The ultimate goal is to be one of the final four drivers who will have a one-race, highest-finisher-wins-title showdown Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Larson is 19 points out of fourth, and as the playoff has already shown, that's a margin that can be easily be made up.

"We had some good luck and then we had some bad luck," Larson said of last week. "Then we had a ton of good luck. Maybe that means this year will be a little bit different. We'll see."

Next up: Gander Outdoors 400 at Dover International Speedway. 2 p.m. Sunday. TV: NBCSN, streaming on NBCSports.