# Eric Martin (racing driver)

Eric Duane Martin (February 6, 1969 – October 9, 2002) was an American 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 | |
| 2001 | Bob Schacht Motorsports | 75 | Pontiac | | | | | | | | | | | MEM 35 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 17th | 2480 |
| 2001 | Martin Racing | 91 | Chevy | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | CHI 38 | | SLM 33 | | | | | | | | 17th | 2480 |
| 2001 | Hixson Motorsports | 56 | Ford | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | NSH 16 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 17th | 2480 |
| 2002 | Hixson Motorsports | 56 | 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 | |
| 2002 | Hixson Motorsports | 2 | Chevy | | | | | | | | | | | | KEN 37 | BLN 28 | POC 33 | NSH 31 | ISF 23 | WIN 32 | DSF 14 | CHI 18 | SLM 27 | TAL DNQ | CLT Wth | | | | | | 19th | 2990 | |