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 The Snowball Derby presented by Bayou Fox Hooters is a 300-lap late model, super late model stock car racing, stock car race held annually at the Five Flags Speedway, a half-mile paved oval track in Pensacola, Florida, Pensacola, Florida, United ...

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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 All or ALL may refer to: عرص Biology and medicine * Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer * Anterolateral ligament, a ligament in the knee * ''All.'', taxonomic author abbreviation for Carlo Allioni (1728–1804), Italian physician and prof ...

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. 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

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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 Myrl 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 (sixth generation), Chevrolet SS for JR Motorsports and part-time ...

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

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and

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, 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 t ...

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

( key) (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) Sportspeople from Canton, Georgia