Ty Gibbs Scores First-Career NASCAR Cup Series Top-10 Finish at Michigan in Relief of Kurt Busch

Ty Gibbs scored the best finish of his very young NASCAR Cup Series career, as he scored his first-career NCS top-10 finish in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

Gibbs, who has filled in for Kurt Busch (suffering from concussion-like symptoms) over the past three races, was busted for speeding on pit road with under 40 laps to go in the event. This sent the driver of the No. 45 Toyota to 24th spot.

However, the 19-year old rookie drove like a cagey veteran over the closing laps of the race. Gibbs’ electric rally culminated in an impressive 10th-place finish.

Incredibly, Gibbs, who was thrust into duty when Busch was injured mid-weekend at Pocono Raceway, has scored top-20 finishes in each of his first three NASCAR Cup Series starts. According to TobyChristie.com’s Joseph Srigley, Gibbs is only the fourth driver in the NASCAR Cup Series since 1985 to finish inside the top-20 in each of their first three NCS starts.

In his first three starts in the NCS, @TyGibbs_ has recorded three top-20 finishes, including a P10 at @MISpeedway.

Gibbs is the fourth driver since 1985 to score top-20s in each of his first three starts at NASCAR's top level.#NASCAR | #SrigleyStats Delivered by @DoorDash pic.twitter.com/3XoqoUyrdx

— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) August 7, 2022

Gibbs, who won Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Michigan, which was his fifth win of the 2022 NXS season and incredibly his ninth win in just his 39th start in the series, sits third in the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship standings after 21 races.

If Kurt Busch is not medically cleared to return for next weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Richmond Raceway, I think it seems like a logical conclusion that Gibbs, who has performed admirably in relief, will get the nod again.

Busch was injured in a crash during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series event at Pocono Raceway three weeks ago.

On the morning of the race, Busch was announced as not being cleared for competition and the team had selected Gibbs to make his NASCAR Cup Series debut in place of Busch.

Gibbs proceeded to finish 16th in his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Pocono and 17th in his second-career start, which came at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Gibbs is the grandson of the legendary Joe Gibbs.

Busch, who scored a win earlier this season at Kansas Speedway, has been granted a medical waiver by NASCAR and will remain eligible for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, so long as he stays inside the top-30 of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season point standings.