Matthew Hawkins (born January 12, 1988 – February 14, 2009) was an American professional racing driver. He had competed in the

ARCA Re/Max Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three national ...

for one season in 2008, but scored one win and four top-10 finishes. Prior to this, he had won the

Snowflake 100 A snowflake is a single ice crystal that has achieved a sufficient size, and may have amalgamated with others, which falls through the Earth's atmosphere as snow.Knight, C.; Knight, N. (1973). Snow crystals. Scientific American, vol. 228, no. ...

Five Flags Speedway Five Flags Speedway is a half-mile (0.8 km) paved oval track racing, oval racetrack in Pensacola, Florida, United States. It opened in 1953 and is located on Pine Forest Road. It is christened after the nickname of Pensacola—"City of Fiv ...

in 2006, and the Southern All-Star Super Late Model Series championship in 2005.

Racing career

Hawkins would start racing in go-karts when he was four years old before progressing to late models years later. In 2004, Hawkins would run in various late model series and events, including the

All American 400 The All American 400 is a 400-lap Super Late Model stock car race held annually at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, a half-mile paved oval track in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The race has been contested every year since 1981 except f ...

Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a motorsport racetrack located at the Nashville Fairgrounds near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The track is the second-oldest continually operating track in the United States. The track held NASCAR Grand Natio ...

. In the following year, he would run the Southern All-Star Super Late Model Series, winning the championship in his only full-time year in the series. He would run the X-1R Pro Cup Series in both the South and National divisions in 2007, finishing ninth and sixth in points respectively. In 2008, he would make his

debut at

Iowa Speedway Iowa Speedway is a 7/8-mile (1.4 km) paved oval motor racing track in Newton, Iowa, United States, approximately east of Des Moines. It has over 25,000 permanent seats as well as a unique multi-tiered RV viewing area along the backstretch ...

in the No. 39

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

owned by his father Fred. He would qualify 28th, but would go on to win the race ahead of

Justin Allgaier Justin M. Allgaier (born June 6, 1986) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports. He is the 2008 ARCA Re/Max Series champion a ...

. He would make four more starts, earning three top-10's, including a duo of fourth place finishes at

Rockingham Speedway Rockingham Speedway, formerly North Carolina Motor Speedway and later North Carolina Speedway is a racetrack located near Rockingham, North Carolina. It is also known as The Rock and previously hosted NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, ...

and

Nashville Superspeedway Nashville Superspeedway is a motor racing complex located in Gladeville, Tennessee, United States (though the track has a Lebanon postal address), about southeast of Nashville. The track was built in 2001 and is currently hosting the Ally 400, ...

, and was originally due to run another partial schedule the following year.

Death

On February 14, 2009, at approximately five in the morning, Hawkins died in his home at

Ball Ground, Georgia Ball Ground is a city in Cherokee County, Georgia, United States. The city was originally Cherokee territory before they were removed from the land and it was given to white settlers. A railroad was built in 1882 and a town was formed around th ...

as a result of a self-inflicted gun shot wound. He had been showing off a 9 mm pistol to his friends before the bullet in the pistol struck Hawkins in the head. He was transported to Northside Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead from his injuries. The shooting was deemed as accidental and not a result of foul play by the Cherokee County Sheriff's office spokesman Sgt. Jay Baker.

Motorsports results

ARCA Re/Max Series

(

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Matt 1988 births 2009 deaths NASCAR drivers ARCA Menards Series drivers Racing drivers from Georgia (U.S. state) People from Canton, Georgia Sportspeople from Cherokee County, Georgia