ARCA competitor Eric Martin (no relation to Mark Martin) was killed in a violent crash at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Wednesday in a practice session leading up to Thursday night’s EasyCare 150. Martin, driving the #2 Hixson Construction Chevy, spun coming off Turn 4 and backed the car into the wall. While stopped, driver Deborah Renshaw’s #75 Ford slammed into the driver’s-side door area. Emergency workers covered Martin’s car with a tarp minutes after the accident. Renshaw, 25, of Bowling Green, Ky., was being taken to a hospital nearby after being treated at the infield care center. Her injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. Martin, a rookie in the ARCA series, was from Hixson, TN, in the Chattanooga area. His best finish in the series was 21st at Kansas Speedway and he was 20th in the season standings. He is survived by his wife, Tammy, and two children. Speedway president H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler spoke to Martin’s widow, Tammy, about 4 p.m. after Martin, a lieutenant junior grade in the Navy, was located on her ship, the Gettysburg, in port in Jacksonville, Fla. A Navy chaplain told Martin of the accident. The Martins also have two children. ARCA competitor Blaise Alexander was killed in a race wreck at the track a year ago this week.(ThatsRacin.com). NOTE: been told Both drivers were wearing HANS devices.
UPDATE on Renshaw: Deborah Renshaw was taken to Carolinas Medical Center where she is listed in Fair condition. She may be kept overnight for observation. Reportedly she was awake and talking with doctors after first being taken to the Lowes Motor Speedway infield care center.(10-9-2002)
AND no firsthand account was available, but supposedly there was oil on the track that probably caused Martins car to hit the wall and, after the car had come to rest, it was the same oil through which Renshawcar skidded into Martin.(Gaston Gazette)
HANS in ARCA and Renshaw surgery: After Blaise Alexander was killed in a crash during an ARCA race on Oct. 4, 2001, the series mandated that its drivers begin wearing a head-and-neck restraint device. Martin was wearing the HANS device at the time of Wednesday’s crash, as was driver Deborah Renshaw, whose car hit Martin’s after Martin’s car had come to rest on the track. Renshaw was admitted to University Hospital after being examined for an ankle injury, and a hospital spokesperson said Renshaw would be scheduled for orthopedic surgery Thursday.(ThatsRacin.com) AND Renshaw’s father, Dan Renshaw, told The Tennessean last night that his daughter had not yet been informed of Martin’s death. ”Deborah’s already in pretty bad shape and the minister on hand thought it would be best not to break the news to her until after she gets through the surgery,” he said. Dan Renshaw said his daughter suffered ”seven or eight” broken bones in her right foot and ankle, sustained a cut over her nose, and was still dazed from the concussion. She will undergo surgery on her foot at 7:30 this morning at University Medical Center in Charlotte. Afterward, she will be informed of Martin’s death. Martin’s team owner and step-father, Wayne Hixson, said Martin either hit some oil on the track or blew a tire as his car exited the fourth turn of the 1.5-mile track. ”I did not see the accident happen,” Hixson said. ”He hit the wall and came over the radio and said, ‘I’m all right.’ He was sitting there and about four or five seconds later, [Renshaw] just broadsided him. … It’s just a wreck. It’s just something that happened.” Dan Renshaw was at trackside and witnessed the crash. ”There was oil everywhere on the track,” he said. ”There wasn’t much left of either car, and I knew it was bad. I ran straight to Deborah’s car, and she was dazed and bloody from the cut over her nose. The emergency workers got her out and transported her straight to the hospital.” Renshaw’s family issued a statement through hospital spokesman Scott White: ”The Renshaw family would like to express their condolences to the Martin family. They hold Eric and his family in their hearts and prayers at this time of tragedy.”(Tennessean)(10-10-2002)
