Quin Houff

Quin Walton Houff (born September 15, 1997) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He has previously competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the ARCA Racing Series.

Racing career

Early years

Houff started to race when he was eight, driving go-karts. A year later, he upgraded to Mini-Cup cars and by age thirteen, he was racing Limited Late Model cars at local tracks. During his formative years, Houff often competed at legendary short track South Boston Speedway.^[1]

Late models

Houff ran the entire 2015 CARS Super Late Model Series schedule at the age of seventeen. He won one race, in Hudson, North Carolina, recorded four more top fives and finished fourth in points.^[2] On the strength of that season, Houff was named to the 2016 Kulwicki Driver Development program.^[3] He won the 2016 CARS season opener, but ran only the first seven races,^[4] a move he made after consulting with a strategy team.^[5] He also ran the 2016 All American 400 for David Gilliland.^[6] Houff returned to the series on a limited basis in 2017.^[7] After not racing since the 2021 Cup Series finale at Phoenix, Houff attempted to run South Boston Speedway's Crown Jewel race and the first race of the Virginia Triple Crown, the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200.^{[citation needed]}

ARCA Racing Series

Houff teamed up with Mason Mitchell and his team to run the opening race of the 2017 ARCA Racing Series after a test at Daytona International Speedway.^[8] After leading laps^[9] and earning an award for leading at halfway,^[10] he was caught up in a wreck.^[11]

On January 8, 2018, Houff and Mason Mitchell Motorsports announced that they would run at least four races together in 2018, at Daytona, Pocono Raceway, Michigan International Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway. He would work together with Mark Setzer, his crew chief from his Xfinity Series races.^[12]

Xfinity Series

On March 21, 2017, it was announced that Houff would drive two NASCAR Xfinity Series races for Precision Performance Motorsports, at Bristol Motor Speedway and Richmond International Raceway.^[13] He tested for the races at Motor Mile Speedway.^[14] At Bristol, Houff hovered around the top ten most of the day after a strong qualifying run but damage due to an incident with Ross Chastain dropped him to fifteenth.^[15] After the race at Richmond, Houff signed on for two more races with the team, at Iowa Speedway and Kentucky Speedway.^[16] He took advantage of good pit strategy at Iowa to score a career-best twelfth but spun during his qualifying lap at Kentucky and failed to qualify. He made starts at Kentucky and Kansas, finishing in the mid-twenties.^[17] He failed to qualify for his final scheduled start of the year, at Homestead.^[18]

Houff was left without a ride as PPM shuttered its team at the end of the 2017 season.^[19]

On September 7, 2018, it was announced that Houff would make his 2018 Xfinity debut with JD Motorsports' No. 4 entry at Richmond.^[20] After finishing 31st in a one-off for the team, a deal came together on October 18, 2018 for Houff to run the final four races of the Xfinity Series season in the organization's No. 15 entry. The deal was made quickly, with Houff finalizing the deal and traveling to Kansas Speedway for the first race of the agreement on the same day.^[21]

Cup Series

On January 22, 2019, Spire Motorsports announced Houff would drive the team's No. 77 on a part-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule starting at ISM Raceway.^[22] Early estimates pegged the number of races at approximately half of the 36-race schedule.^[23]

On November 27, 2019, StarCom Racing announced that Houff would drive the team's No. 00 on a full-time basis during the 2020 and 2021 seasons.^[24]

At the 2020 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas, Houff made a last-minute decision to enter pit-road with 29 laps to go, clipping the cars of Christopher Bell and Matt DiBenedetto in the process before crashing into the outside retaining wall. He was later on criticized by DiBenedetto and Brad Keselowski, who proposed that NASCAR should add a relegation structure that would demote developmental drivers to the lower divisions should they commit a mistake similar to Houff's.^[25] Later that season, in the 2020 Yellawood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, he finished a career high thirteenth place after avoiding multiple accidents on the ending laps.

In 2021, Talladega would again be Houff's strong suit, as he scored a season-high nineteenth place finish in the 2021 YellaWood 500. StarCom Racing would shut down at the end of 2021, leaving Houff without a ride. As of 2026, he has not raced since.

Personal life

Houff works with Duke University School of Medicine's cancer programs, as his mother was treated for cancer there. His grandmother also had cancer.^[26]

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.)

Cup Series

Daytona 500

Xfinity Series

K&N Pro Series East

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

ARCA Racing Series

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

CARS Super Late Model Tour

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

References

1. ^ "Quin Houff Joins LFR Driver Development Team – LFR Chassis". www.lfrchassis.com. Archived from the original on 2017-04-25. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
2. ^ "Driver Quin Houff 2015 CARS Super Late Model Tour Results - Racing-Reference.info". www.racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
3. ^ "Quin Houff". www.inthepitsmedia.com. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
4. ^ "Driver Quin Houff 2016 CARS Super Late Model Tour Results - Racing-Reference.info". www.racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
5. ^ "Rookie Quin Houff, Mason Mitchell Motorsports partner for Daytona". ARCA Racing. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
6. ^ "10/02/2016 race: All American 400 (EX) - Racing-Reference.info". www.racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
7. ^ "Driver Quin Houff 2017 CARS Super Late Model Tour Results - Racing-Reference.info". www.racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
8. ^ "Weyers Cave's Houff ready for Daytona debut". The News Leader. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
9. ^ "Houff announces his next step in racing". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
10. ^ "Daytona's Protect Plus Halfway Leader to rookie Houff". ARCA Racing. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
11. ^ "Driver Quin Houff 2017 ARCA Racing Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". www.racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
12. ^ "Quin Houff joins Mason Mitchell Motorsports...starts at Daytona". ARCA Racing. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
13. ^ "Quin Houff to make XFINITY Series debut with Precision Performance Motorsports". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
14. ^ DeGuzman, David. "Road To NASCAR: Houff's rapid, yet bumpy, rise to racing success". Retrieved 2018-01-05.
15. ^ "Quin Houff Impresses in Xfinity Debut, Finishes 15th at Bristol". Motorsports Tribune. 22 April 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-04-25. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
16. ^ Wilson, Steven B. "Quin Houff commits to NASCAR XFINITY races at Iowa and Kentucky with PPM". Retrieved 2017-06-21.
17. ^ "XFINITY Breakdown: Joe Gibbs Racing Teammates Collide Late, Christopher Bell Wins at Kansas". www.frontstretch.com. 22 October 2017. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
18. ^ Winningham, Brett. "NXS: Tyler Reddick Earns Ford EcoBoost 300 Pole". Retrieved 2018-01-05.
19. ^ "NASCAR Xfinity: Precision Performance Motorsports shutters program". Auto Racing Daily. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
20. ^ "Houff Joins JD Motorsports For Richmond". Speed Sport. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
21. ^ Hite, Patrick. "Houff to run remainder of Xfinity Series". The News Leader. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
22. ^ "Quinn Houff to drive for Spire Motorsports". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. January 22, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
23. ^ Catanzareti, Zach. "Quin Houff to join Spire Motorsports, make Cup starts in 2019". Kickin the Tires. Archived from the original on 23 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
24. ^ "Quin Houff replacing Landon Cassill in the #00 at StarCom Racing". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. November 27, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
25. ^ "Houff's gaffe alters complexion of Texas race, playoff hunt". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
26. ^ "Quin Houff makes a difference through racing". The News Leader. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
27. ^ "Quin Houff – 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
28. ^ "Quin Houff – 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
29. ^ "Quin Houff – 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
30. ^ "Quin Houff – 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
31. ^ "Quin Houff – 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
32. ^ "Quin Houff – 2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
33. ^ "Quin Houff – 2017 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
34. ^ "Quin Houff – 2018 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
35. ^ "Quin Houff – 2015 CARS Super Late Model Tour results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
36. ^ "Quin Houff – 2016 CARS Super Late Model Tour results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
37. ^ "Quin Houff – 2017 CARS Super Late Model Tour results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.

External links

• Official website