Tommy Houston is just one race away from being surpassed for most Busch Series starts. He has held the mark since April 5, 1988, when Dale Jarrett missed an event at Langley, Va. Both drivers had run the first 184 races in the division’s history, and Houston would go on to make the starting grid for its first 360. Not until March 5, 1994, when Houston failed to qualify at Richmond, did a Busch Series event go off without Houston in the field. Keller tied Houston’s mark of 417 career starts at Kansas and he’ll attempt to pass it at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Houston, who today owns rental property at Holden Beach, N.C., as well as doing some welding and pit-cart construction at his Hickory, N.C. shop, is part of a hard-core racing family. He raced, and so did his brother, Hal. And Hal is the father of Teresa Earnhardt. All of Tommy and Martha Houston’s three sons — Scott, Andy and Marty — were involved in Tommy’s race teams to one extent or another, and Andy and Marty would go on to purse driving careers themselves.(NASCAR.com)(10-11-2007)
