Andy Houston

Infobox_NASCAR_driver
Name = Andrew Houston
Birthdate = birth date and age|1970|11|7
Birthplace = Hickory, North Carolina
Previous_Year = 2005
Prev_Truck_Pos = 86th
Best_Truck_Pos = 3rd - 2000 (Craftsman Truck Series)
Truck_Wins = 3
Truck_Top_Tens = 51
Truck_Poles = 4
First_Truck_Race = 1997 Cummins 200 (Indianapolis)
First_Truck_Win = 1998 Pennzoil/VIP Discount Tripleheader (New Hampshire)
Last_Truck_Win = 2000 Line-X 225 (Portland)
Awards = 1994 Hickory Motor Speedway Late Model Champion

1996 NASCAR Dash Series Most Popular Driver
Updated_On = April 23, 2006

Andy Houston (born November 7, 1970 in Hickory, North Carolina) is a veteran of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, scoring three wins. Houston is the son of legendary Busch Driver Tommy Houston and the youngest of three brothers, one of them being part-time NASCAR driver Marty Houston and the other being the oldest of the three, Scott Houston. He is also the cousin of team owner Teresa Earnhardt. Andy Houston has also raced in the Nextel Cup Series and the Busch Series. Andy is married to wife Lorie and has two children, Collin (born in 1997) and Clark (born in 2001). Since January 2005, Houston has served as the spotter for John Andretti's Busch Series team.

Early Racing Career

In 1994, Andy won Hickory Motor Speedway's Late Model Championship and in 1996 he won the Goody's Dash Series Most Popular Driver Award.

NASCAR career

Cup Series

2000 marked Houston's first start in the Winston Cup Series as he competed in five races to prepare for his 2001 rookie campaign with PPI Motorsports. Out of the five races his best finish would come at Lowe's Motor Speedway, a 26th. Houston began the 2001 year well with a 9th place qualifying effort at the Daytona 500 in the #96 McDonald's Ford. It would be one of the highlights of the year, as Houston ended the year with no top 10s and a best finish of 17th at Martinsville; Houston only managed to qualify for 17 races and failed to run any more after McDonald's pulled their sponsorship late in the season. He hasn't returned to the series since.

Busch Series

Houston made his Busch Series debut in 1996 driving the #0 Suburban Propane Ford at Indianapolis Raceway Park. He would start the race in the 21st position and finish in the 24th position, five laps down. He returned to the series in 1998 to make another start this time at Hickory Motor Speedway in the #50 Dr Pepper Ford. He would start the race in 7th and finish in the 20th position. In 2000, Houston made one start for Team SABCO and brought the #82 Channellock Chevrolet home in the 36th position at the Milwaukee Mile. For the 2002 season, Houston was supposed to run the whole season with the Herzog/Jackson Motorsports team, but was replaced by Todd Bodine after 3 races. His best finish with the team was a 9th at Daytona. He currently serves as Jack Sprauges spotter for Kevin Harvick Inc.#2 Craftsman Truck series team.

Craftsman Truck Series

In 1997, Houston made his first Craftsman Truck Series start with Addington Racing. He would compete in four races for the team with a best finish of 11th at Martinsville.For the 1998 season, he returned to Addington Racing and ran full-time in the Truck Series. Houston would have a solid year winning his first race at New Hampshire International Speedway and posting 9 top tens, while finishing 12th in points. Houston again returned to Addington Racing for the 1999 season and he scored 14 top tens with an 8th place finish in points. 2000 was a breakout year for Houston, as he won two races at Homestead and Portland, had 13 top fives, and 18 top tens, finishing 3rd in points to Roush Racing Teammates Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch. He returned to the series in 2002 with Melling Racing where he ran one race at South Boston Speedway. After that Billy Ballew Motorsports hired him to run the remainder of 2002. He would post a best finish of 12th at California out of the five races he competed in. In 2003, Houston was still running races for Billy Ballew and Nelly when Vokal became his primary sponsor, until Billy ran out of money to run two trucks. Ballew kept Rich Bickle, leaving Houston without a ride. Later that year, Ultra Motorsports gave him a truck ride and he did well, finishing no worse than sixth and earned a pole at Texas Motor Speedway. For the 2004 season, he continued driving for Ultra Motorsports until he was released after the race at Bristol. Houston most of the other races with numerous teams and had a best finish of 7th at Dover. In 2005, he only ran one race with Key Motorsports at Bristol Motor Speedway, finishing 33rd after a crash. He has yet to return to the Craftsman Truck Series since the 2005 season.