Eric Martin (racing driver)

Eric Martin
Nationality	American
Born	(1969-02-06)February 6, 1969 Hixson, Tennessee
Died	October 9, 2002(2002-10-09) (aged 33) Concord, North Carolina
ARCA Racing Series
Years active	2001–2002
Teams	Hixson Motorsports
Starts	40
Wins	0
Poles	0
Best finish	17th in 2001

Eric Duane Martin (February 6, 1969 – October 9, 2002) was an ARCA driver from Hixson, Tennessee, who was killed at the Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 9, 2002, during a practice session for the season-ending EasyCare 100.

He was not related to Mark Martin despite sharing a same last name.

Martin initially spun and backed into the fourth turn wall, coming to rest on the racing line entering the tri-oval. A fairly routine and innocuous accident, Martin radioed his crew that he was fine. However, 16 seconds after the initial crash, just as Martin was unbuckling his belts, Deborah Renshaw, going full speed along the racing line in the belief that the track was clear, careened directly into the driver's side door of Martin at about 160 mph and killed him instantly.

Both ARCA and Renshaw were roundly criticized following the accident. ARCA received criticism because its regulations did not require spotters to be located on top of the grandstands. Renshaw's spotter was standing on top of the team trailer, and thus could not see the wreck and communicate its location to his driver. Thus, in spite of the fact that 16 seconds, an eternity in racing, passed between the initial crash and the fatal second collision, not all the drivers were notified of the crash. Renshaw was herself criticized, because although several other cars with similarly situated spotters managed to see Martin in time and slow considerably before avoiding him, Renshaw did not see the car stopped on the racing line until it was much too late to avoid the fatal collision. In the aftermath of the accident, ARCA mandated that each car that went onto the track had to have an assigned spotter in the spotter's stand, and a yellow warning light was mandated for the car's dashboard that illuminated when a caution was declared on the race track. Eric left behind two sons, Brian and Matt Martin.

Martin had 40 starts in the ARCA Re/Max Series.

Motorsports career 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.)

ARCA Re/Max Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	ARSC	Pts	Ref
2001	Hixson Motorsports	56	Chevy	DAY	NSH	WIN 30	SLM 30	GTY 35	KEN 37	CLT 36	KAN 37	MCH 39	POC 33		GLN 25	KEN 35	MCH 33	POC 32		ISF 33		DSF 40		TOL 30	BLN 31	CLT 36	TAL 28	ATL 40	17th	2480
	Bob Schacht Motorsports	75	Pontiac											MEM 35
	Martin Racing	91	Chevy																			CHI 38		SLM 33
	Hixson Motorsports	56	Ford																NSH 16
2002			Chevy	DAY DNQ	ATL DNQ	NSH 23	SLM 30	KEN 26	CLT 40	KAN 21	POC 25	MCH 31	TOL 35	SBO 26															19th	2990
		2													KEN 37	BLN 28	POC 33	NSH 31	ISF 23	WIN 32	DSF 14	CHI 18	SLM 27	TAL DNQ	CLT Wth

External links

• Eric Martin driver statistics at Racing-Reference