Matt Continues Career Top Five Record With Strong Finish at "The Rock"

Matt Hawkins won at Iowa Speedway in his ARCA RE/MAX Series debut last month, so the bar was set high for his second series start this past weekend at Rockingham Speedway (NC).

Hawkins ended up finishing fourth in his first trip to Rockingham on a day where Joey Logano dominated the race and even NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veteran Ken Schrader had to settle for second place.

Still, considering that Hawkins  was a total rookie at The Rock before and because of the fact that he started the race back in the 23rd position, the top five result was a very positive one for the rising star.

“Joey Logano tested here several times and almost everyone else came here for an open test, but I had never even seen the track before,” said Hawkins.  “Still, I think that we expected to run just a little bit better.  We never could get the car quite perfect.  It was close when we unloaded it and it was good all race long, but it never was quite where we wanted it to be.”

Matt Hawkins

Racing on worn tires at the end of the event also took its toll.

“Our tire strategy didn't work out at the end.  We thought that we might have a second place finish, but we got passed a few times at the end.  Still, it was all in all a good weekend for us.”

Hawkins credits his crew chief and mentor, Mike Garvey, for part of the success at Rockingham.

“Mike has run here in the past and that really helped when it came to deciding how to set the car up before coming here,” Hawkins said.

Next up for Hawkins is another race at a track where Garvey has raced in the past - the May 31st USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series event at The Milwaukee Mile.

“Mike has had a lot of success at Milwaukee,” said Hawkins.  “I've raced there once too and I liked the track.  I think that we should be in pretty good shape when we go there.”