NEWTON, Iowa — 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 JaniKing-Racing Radios Dodge, drove under 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 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.
“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.”
Justin Allgaier, who led 83 laps, not only passed Carter with four laps to go, but was closing in on the eventual winner before time ran out. Allgaier, in the AG Tech-Hoosier Midwest-Simpson Safety Chevrolet, finished second, five lengths away from Hawkins.
“We had temperature problems and that caused us to have some long pit stops,” said Allgaier, who lost six positions on pit road during his final stop. “We had too much tape on the nose, but when we removed that it took away the downforce on the front of the car. We tried to get the car right for the long runs, but the weather threw everyone for a curve. It’s really a good thing that it was cold when we had the open test here because we were more prepared to deal with the weather today.”
Frank Kimmel, in an unsponsored Ford, charged from the 39th starting position to finish third, earning the Casite Hard Charger award.
“The car ran very well all day,” said Kimmel. “It’s (the car) actually a combination of a few cars that we pieced together. We’re actually off to the best start ever in the ARCA RE/MAX Series, we just need a sponsor to see us through the rest of the year.”
Eighteen-year-old rookie Jesse Smith, in only his second career series start, finished a career-best fifth in the Lloyd’s Barbeque-Spam-Hormel Foods Dodge after leading three laps.
In all, there were 13 lead changes among seven drivers while nine cautions, all for minor incidents, slowed the field for 54 laps.
The finish:
Showing driver, car and laps completed: 1. Matt Hawkins, Dodge, 250; 2. Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 250; 3. Frank Kimmel, Ford, 250; 4. Matt Carter, Ford, 250; 5. Jesse Smith, Dodge, 250; 6. Scott Speed, Toyota, 250; 7. Ken Butler III, Toyota, 250; 8. Bryan Silas, Chevrolet, 250; 9. Patrick Sheltra, Chevrolet, 250; 10. Tayler Malsam, Dodge, 250; 11. Tom Hessert III, Ford, 249; 12. John Wes Townley, Ford, 246; 13. Robb Brent, Chevrolet, 246; 14. Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, 244; 15. Bobby Gerhart, Chevrolet, 244; 16. Pierre Bourque, Dodge, 243; 17. Dominick Casola, Dodge, 243; 18. Billy Leslie, Ford, 243; 19. Ricky Stenhouse, Ford, 242; 20. Jake Francis, Dodge, 241; 21. Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 240; 22. Donny Kelley, Chevrolet, 239; 23. Darrell Basham, Chevrolet, 238; 24. Michael Phelps, Dodge, 234; 25. Brad Smith, Ford, 224; 26. Gabi DiCarlo, Toyota, 213; 27. Alli Owens, Chevrolet, 204; 28. Michael Annett, Toyota, 175; 29. James Buescher, Dodge, 118; 30. Tim Mitchell, Ford, 92; 31. Todd Hansen, Chevrolet, 81; 32. Todd Bowsher, Ford, 78; 33. Tom Berte, Chevrolet, 68; 34. Troy Wangerin, Dodge, 57; 35. Dexter Bean, Chevrolet, 37; 36. Justin Lofton, Dodge, 27; 37. Mike Koch, Chevrolet, 9; 38. Jeremy Petty, Chevrolet, 7; 39. Grant Enfinger, Ford, 4; 40. Barry Layne, Chevrolet, 2; 41. A.J. Genail, Dodge, 2.