Tommy Houston

Infobox NASCAR driver
Name = Tommy Houston
Birthdate = birth date and age|1945|1|29 | Birthplace = flagicon|USA Hickory, North Carolina
Best_Busch_Pos = 2nd - 1989
Busch_Wins = 24
Busch_Top_Tens = 198
Busch_Poles = 18
First_Busch_Race = 1982 Goody's 300 (Daytona)
First_Busch_Win = 1982 Eastern 150 (Richmond)
Last_Busch_Win = 1992 Mountain Dew 400 (Hickory)
Last_Busch_Race = 1996 AC Delco 200 (Rockingham)
Years_In_Busch = 15
Total_Busch_Races = 417
Updated_On = February 26, 2007

Tommy Houston, (born on January 29, 1945) is a retired NASCAR Busch Series' drivers. Over his career, Houston and Jack Ingram became known as the pair journeymen drivers that helped that series grow throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.

Houston was born in Hickory, North Carolina, and was in the NASCAR Late Model Sportsmen division, winning nearly 150 races before the series was formed into the Busch Series.

Busch Series Career

Houston made the inaugural race of the Busch Series at the 1982 Daytona race. Driving the #27 Kings Inn Chevy for Mike Day, Houston started 23rd and finished the race in 9th position. The very next week, Houston started 15th at North Carolina Speedway. From there, Houston moved solidly through the field and held off Bubba Nissen for the win. After problems at Bristol, Houston put together a run of 5 top-10 finishes. However, inconsistency through the year cost him. He did not finish the last 3 races as well as 7 others. That cost him any shot at the title. At Hickory Speedway in August, however, Houston held off Tommy Ellis for his second career win after starting 4th. All told, he finished 4th in the 1982 Busch Series points.

In 1983, Houston began running his #6 full-time. He was able to reduce his DNF count from 10 to 6. He had four more top-10 finishes. He won two races at Orange County Speedway, and one each at Indianapolis Raceway Park and Hickory. He also finished 2nd three times. His sponsors over the years included Southern Biscuit Flour, Roses Stores, and later Red Devil Paints. His family was very involved in his efforts. He was inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame in 2008. [Jensen, Tom. [http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/42612/ Barrett-Jackson Wrapped, It's NASCAR Time] , SpeedTV.com, January 21, 2008]

Personal life

Tommy Houston is the uncle of Teresa Earnhardt, the owner and CEO of the Dale Earnhardt Incorporated racing team. His son Andy Houston raced in all of the three major NASCAR series.

References

External links

* [http://www.racing-reference.info/driver?id=houstto01 Houston's career stats]