Hawkins Takes Home Another Top-10
Busy Weekend For Young Driver
Two races in two different states can be a daunting task for any racer, especially when it comes in two different racing series with two completely different racecars. Fortunately for Matt Hawkins, it didn’t faze him one bit this past weekend as he was able to capture a top 10 result in ARCA RE/MAX Series competition and a top 15 in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series.
Hawkins headed for Kentucky Speedway on Friday to battle some of the best racers in the country on the one-and-half mile super speedway in the Kentucky ARCA RE/MAX 150.
“We qualified fourth and ran in the top ten the whole race. We really just had a terrible pit stop and that hurt us,” admitted Hawkins. “We came out like eighteenth, but we made it back up to sixth. We definitely had a top-five car, but we were all pretty happy with a sixth place run.”
Matt spins at Southern Nt'l Raceway Park (51 Sports Photos)
Hawkins recently went through a bad-luck ridden streak, but that all changed with a third-place run at Myrtle Beach Speedway in SC a few weeks ago. After Kentucky, with two top 10s under his belt, Hawkins was prepared to take on anything that was thrown in his way in his next Pro Cup race this past Saturday. Unfortunately, the expression “the third time’s the charm” didn’t come true for him at Southern National Raceway Park in Kenly, NC.
“We had to rush to get everything set up because we ran at Kentucky on Friday night, and fortunately everything went smooth,” explained Hawkins. “We qualified tenth, but we got spun out early in the race and we went a lap down. We came back in and we actually drove our way back up to second.
“We were running second and I just spun out all by myself. It was just a driver error. The car was really free getting in all night. It just happens. It hurt the tires pretty good I think. We could never really get the car back going. We battled around and got back up to fifteenth.”
Battling long and hard to get his car back up front left Hawkins understandably disappointed with his finishing position, but even he acknowledges that a racing situation like that was bound to happen eventually.
“I was pretty disappointed because I really wanted to get a top five,” said Hawkins. “I think we had a top five car, but it was really my fault. It was just driver error. I’ve never done that before; spun out by myself, but I’m sure it’s going to happen.”
This fifteenth place finish isn’t going to keep Hawkins from achieving his goals for the rest of the season. Using his other top finishes to his advantage, he will be attempting to stay on track for his original plan to become the Hooter’s Pro Cup Champion.
“At the beginning of the season we were looking at trying to win the championship,” said Hawkins. “I think the Southern (Division) championship may be out of the way. I don’t know if we can make up that much ground. If we can keep running consistently, where we should be finishing, without me making any errors, than I hope to be up there going for the championship in the four championship races.”
Hawkins is preparing for his next Pro Cup race at Hickory Motor Speedway on Saturday, August 2nd.
“I’m not a real big fan of Hickory, but we need to go get ready and do the best we can.”
