Ty Gibbs posts third Top-5 in 4 races

AUSTIN — Another NASCAR Cup Series race, another Top-5 finish for Ty Gibbs.

Gibbs started second in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix Sunday at Circuit of the Americas, grabbing three stage points en route to a third-place finish.

“We did a really great job today,” Gibbs said. “My team did a really great job. All props to them. Thank you to Monster Energy, He Gets Us, Interstate Batteries. It was a good day for us. A good points day.”

In the last four races, Gibbs has posted finishes of fifth (Las Vegas), third (Phoenix), ninth (Bristol), and third (Austin).

Gibbs has posted three Top-5 finishes and five Top-10 finishes in the first six races of the season. The 21-year-old driver is now second in points, five points back from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr.

Gibbs held second-place in the closing laps before being passed by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate. Could Gibbs have held his teammate off for the runner-up spot?

“I don’t think so,” Gibbs said. “He’s (Christopher Bell) my teammate, and he has new tires on and caught me from like a whole straightaway back. I feel like if I raced him that hard, it would have been kind of mean.

“I tried to let him by when he got to me, and it was just what it was. We were too loose there. This Monster Energy team is all good and we will keep digging.”

Gibbs has an 84-point advantage — over one full race’s worth of points — over the playoff cutline entering the next race at Richmond Raceway.

Gibbs has earned five consecutive Top-10 finishes, the longest streak of his career thus far.