Andy Houston

Andrew Houston (born November 7, 1970) is an American stock car racing spotter and former driver. He 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 former team owner Teresa Earnhardt. Houston has also raced in the Winston Cup Series and the Busch Series. Houston is married to wife Lorie and has two children, Collin (born in 1997) and Clark (born in 2001).

Early racing career Houston won Hickory Motor Speedway's Late Model Championship in 1994, 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 year 2001 well with a ninth place qualifying effort at the Daytona 500 in the No. 96 McDonald's Ford. It would be one of the highlights of the year, as Houston ended the year with no top-tens and a best finish of seventeenth at Martinsville; Houston only managed to qualify for seventeen races and his team folded after McDonald's pulled its sponsorship late in the season. He has not returned to the Cup Series since.

Busch Series Houston made his Busch Series debut in 1996 driving the No. 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 No. 50 Dr Pepper Ford. He would start the race in seventh and finish twentieth. In 2000, Houston made one start for Team SABCO and brought the No. 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 released and replaced by Todd Bodine after Las Vegas Due to "performance issues". His best finish with the team was a ninth at Daytona.

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 nine top-tens, while finishing 12th in points. Houston again returned to Addington Racing for the 1999 season and he scored fourteen top-tens with an eighth-place finish in points. 2000 was a breakout year for Houston, as he won two races at Homestead and Portland, had thirteen top-fives, and eighteen top-tens, finishing third 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 twelfth 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 very well, finishing no worse than tenth 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. Andy's best finish with the team that year was a seventh at Dover. For the remainder of 2004 with the exception of Richmond, Houston raced with multiple teams, but with limited success. In 2005, he only ran one race with Key Motorsports at Bristol Motor Speedway, finishing 33rd after a crash in his final NASCAR race.

Post-racing career

Following his racing career, Houston worked as a spotter for other drivers; he worked with Richard Childress Racing, spotting for Austin Dillon in the Nationwide Series in the early 2010s, moving up with Dillon to the Sprint Cup Series in 2014. He left Dillon's team after the 2019 season. He announced in November 2019 on Twitter that he would spot for Cole Custer for the 2020 season in Custer's rookie campaign. He also spotted for Ryan Preece in 2023. He spotted for Noah Gragson in 2024 and Cole Custer in 2025 and 2026.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series NASCAR Winston Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts Ref 2000 PPI Motorsports 96 Ford DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV MCH POC SON DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH35 BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT26 TAL CAR28 PHO36 HOM42 ATL 55th 314 2001 DAY38 CARDNQ LVSDNQ ATL21 DARDNQ BRI39 TEX32 MAR17 TAL21 CAL19 RCH42 CLT41 DOV23 MCHDNQ POCDNQ SONDNQ DAY43 CHI43 NHA POC IND43 GLN MCH31 BRI40 DARDNQ RCHDNQ DOV40 KAN18 CLT MAR TAL PHO CAR HOM ATL NHA 46th 1187

Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 2001 PPI Motorsports Ford 9 38

Busch Series NASCAR Busch Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Pts Ref 1993 DAY CAR RCH DAR BRI HCY ROU MAR NZH CLT DOV MYB GLN MLW TAL IRP MCH NHA BRI DAR RCH DOV ROU CLT MAR CAR HCYDNQ ATL NA - 1995 DAY CAR RCH ATL NSV DAR BRI HCYDNQ NHA NZH CLT DOV MYB GLN MLW TAL SBO IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAR HOM NA - 1996 Houston Racing 0 Ford DAY CAR RCH ATL NSV DAR BRI HCYQL† NZH CLT DOV SBO MYB GLN MLW NHA TAL IRP24 MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAR HOM 89th 91 1998 Washington-Erving Motorsports 50 Ford DAY CAR LVS NSV DAR BRI TEX HCY20 TAL NHA NZH CLT DOV RCH PPR GLN MLW MYB CAL SBO IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT GTY CAR ATL HOM 102nd 103 2000 Team SABCO 82 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX NSV TAL CAL RCH NHA CLT DOV SBO MYB GLN MLW36 NZH PPR GTY IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAR MEM PHO HOM 106th 55 2001 Team Rensi Motorsports 25 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV KEN MLW GLN CHI GTY17 PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM PHO CAR HOM 101st 112 2002 Herzog-Jackson Motorsports 92 Chevy DAY9 CAR17 LVS24 DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL CAR PHO HOM 68th 346 † - Qualified but replaced by his father, Tommy Houston

Craftsman Truck Series NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Pts Ref 1997 AAG Racing 65 Chevy WDW TUS HOM PHO POR EVG I70 NHA TEX BRI NZH MLW LVL CNS HPT IRP18 FLM NSV24 GLN RCHDNQ MAR11 SON MMR CAL PHO32 LVSDNQ 46th 441 1998 Addington Racing 60 Chevy WDW27 HOM20 PHO4 POR16 EVG28 I7010 GLN15 TEX2 BRI28 MLW29 NZH15 CAL4 PPR18 IRP26 NHA1* FLM20 NSV13 HPT32 LVL3 RCH12 MEM34 GTY30 MAR12 SON6 MMR9 PHO5 LVS11 12th 3188 1999 HOM5 PHO3 EVG14 MMR19 MAR17 MEM7 PPR4 I703 BRI4 TEX7 PIR7 GLN8 MLW20 NSV6 NZH11 MCH19 NHA7 IRP8 GTY25 HPT11 RCH6 LVS22 LVL12 TEX8 CAL18 8th 3359 2000 DAY3 HOM1* PHO3 MMR10 MAR11 PIR1 GTY24 MEM15 PPR3 EVG8 TEX4 KEN9 GLN6 MLW5 NHA5 NZH11 MCH4 IRP26 NSV6 CIC4 RCH25 DOV4 TEX2 CAL2* 3rd 3566 2002 Midgley Racing 09 Chevy DAY DAR MAR GTY PPRQL† DOV TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN NHA MCH IRP NSH RCH TEX 38th 578 HT Motorsports 17 Dodge SBO21 Billy Ballew Motorsports 15 Ford LVS12 CAL12 PHO17 HOM17 2003 DAY5 DAR21 MMR12 MAR15 21st 1487 Fasscore Motorsports 9 Ford CLT30 DOV TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN GTW MCH IRP NSH BRI RCH NHA Ultra Motorsports 2 Dodge CAL6 LVS6 SBO6 TEX5 MAR PHO10 HOM4 2004 DAY30 ATL19 MAR11 MFD15 CLT19 DOV7 TEX9 MEM20 KAN31 KEN8 GTW13 MCH23 IRP19 NSH25 BRI19 RCH 20th 2540 HT Motorsports 59 Ford MLW19 NHA33 LVS14 CAL21 Green Light Racing 07 Chevy TEX14 DAR34 ThorSport Racing 13 Chevy MAR25 PHO16 Ken Weaver Racing 20 Chevy HOM18 2005 Key Motorsports 40 Chevy DAY CAL ATL MAR GTY MFD CLT DOV TEX MCH MLW KAN KEN MEM IRP NSH BRI33 RCHDNQ NHA LVS MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 86th 64 † - Qualified for Mike Hamby.

Winston West Series NASCAR Winston West Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pts Ref 1998 Addington Racing 92 Chevy TUS LVS PHO CAL HPT MMR AMP POR CAL PPR EVG SON MMR LVS 1* 54th 185 1999 Midgley Racing 09 Pontiac TUS LVS PHO CAL PPR MMR IRW EVG POR IRW RMR LVS MMR MOT 17 70th 112

Goody's Dash Series NASCAR Goody's Dash Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Pts Ref 1996 N/A 30 Pontiac DAY HOM MYB SUM NSV TRI CAR HCY FLO BRI SUM GRE SNM BGS MYB LAN STH FLO NWS VOL HCY 11th 2412 1997 DAY HOM KIN MYB LAN CAR TRI FLO HCY BRI GRE SNM CLT MYB LAN SUM STA HCY USA CON HOM 88th 70