NASCAR driver Tony Stewart has had a pretty rough year after being involved in the tragic racing accident that caused the death of Kevin Ward Jr., but it looks like his spirits have been improving lately.

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Stewart's improved mood is probably thanks to his fourth-place finish in the Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Sunday. It was the driver's first top-five finish since March and just his third top-five finish of 2014.

"It's been way too long since we've been in this position," Stewart said after the race, according to his team website StewartHaasRacing.com. "I felt like we ran solid all day. We didn't stay in the top-five all day and we didn't stay in the top-10 all day. We had to overcome some adversity. But I still felt like we ran our race. We were aggressive when we needed to be aggressive. We used give-and-take when we needed to use give-and-take. Some other guys paid the price for not doing that today. I felt like, all in all, we ran a decent race."

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It looks like Stewart was confident before the race as he even posted on Twitter for the first time since August, sharing a photo of himself with crew chief Chad Johnston:

On Tuesday Stewart spent time with Nationwide Series driver Kenny Wallace, younger brother to famed drivers Rusty and Mike Wallace. The two took a photo and Stewart looked to be in good spirits: