Canton, Georgia rookie Matt
Hawkins wasted no time in asserting himself among the ARCA RE/MAX
Series ranks. Hawkins, in his career-first series start, tracked
down Matt Carter just in time, rubbed fenders just enough and
cruised on to win the Prairie Meadows 250 Saturday afternoon at
Iowa Speedway.
The 20-year-old driver, in the no. 39 Jani-King
Dodge, drove underneath Carter through turns one and two with six
laps to go to earn the momentous victory.
“I have some great
guys behind me,” said Hawkins, who led three times for 12
laps. “We came here to run up front and we did. Working
traffic wasn’t terrible because the field got strung out
enough that I could pass cars fairly easily. But, once I got up
with the fastest seven cars, that was a different story. It was
hard to pass those guys. When I got into Matt (Carter) with about
seven to go, I just lost the nose and got into him. It certainly
wasn’t intentional and I hope he knows that.”
Carter, in
the no. 46 Stine Seed-Fort Dodge Animal Health-Pork Ford, got
tight in the final laps and gave up two more spots before the
checkered flag waved. Regardless, Carter, who led 117 of the 250
laps, was credited with the Aaron’s Lap Leader award for
leading the most laps, and finished fourth. He also earned the
Accel Fastest Lap of the Race (134.151 mph).
“The contact
(between Hawkins and Carter) was really no big deal,” said
Carter. “He was faster than we were and would have passed us
anyway. He apologized; everything’s fine.”
Hawkins is
driving a limited ARCA schedule and a full-time USAR Pro Cup
schedule for Jani-King in 2008. In his first two starts in the
USAR Pro Cup Southern Division series, Hawkins finished 2nd at
USA International Speedway in Lakeland, FL and 7th at South
Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta, GA. The two top-10 finishes
have currently placed Hawkins in 1st place in the championship
points race. The next USAR Pro Cup race is scheduled for
Saturday, April 26 at Concord Motorsports Park, in Concord, NC.
As for Hawkins’ first ARCA start and first win, Jani-King
received tremendous live television coverage throughout the
entire race on SpeedChannel. The race was also re-broadcast in
its entirety on Sunday, giving Jani-King double the exposure. For
more about the ARCA series and Hawkins’ win, go to
www.arcaracing.com.
