Concord, N.C. ? NASCAR is looking into ways to prevent the type of accident in which ARCA driver Eric Martin was killed on Wednesday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Martin spun during a practice on the 1 1/2-mile oval and hit the wall. He radioed his crew that he was not injured as his car slid to a stop on the banked track. About 15 seconds later, a car driven by Deborah Renshaw, slammed into his driver’s-side door about 160 mph, killing Martin instantly.

Renshaw was in a hospital Friday with multiple fractures in her left foot and ankle.

Several NASCAR drivers have said that a spotter on the roof, or caution lights spaced around the race track or inside the race cars, like the ones used in the Indy Racing League, might have saved Martin’s life.

NASCAR, which is not affiliated with ARCA, requires spotters during races, but not during practice.

“We are looking at the possibility of putting some sort of mechanism in the car,” Jim Hunter, vice president of communications for NASCAR, said Friday. “(Managing director of competition) Gary Nelson is looking at that and doing some testing with it.

“With spotters, we’re certainly looking at that after the other day. Some teams use spotters during practice and some don’t. We’re going to have to decide whether we’re going to mandate it or highly require it,” Hunter added.

Jeff Burton, one of NASCAR’s most active safety proponents among the drivers, said, “I’ll be a bit of a hypocrite and say I think a spotter ought to be in the spotters’ stand at all times during practice.

“Have I had a spotter in the spotters’ stand during practice? No, I haven’t. But we will from now on.”

He endorsed the idea proposed by fellow driver Jimmy Spencer: putting a series of safety lights in the corners and in the cars, as well.

“In every incident that we have, we’ve got to have as many things as possible go wrong to have the wrong thing happen,” Burton said. “So improving the lights at the race tracks, I think, is a good idea. Being able to know that the driver hears and sees that there’s a problem on the race track, that’s a good idea.”

Burton also said NASCAR needs to change the rule allowing competitors to race to the flag stand after a caution flag is displayed.

“The same thing that happened here the other night could happen on Sunday,” he said, adding that a so-called gentlemen’s agreement to slow down and hold positions when a caution comes out does not work.

“There is no gentlemen’s agreement,” Burton said. “People race back to the (finish) line. You’ll be racing for sixth and the guy will beat you to the line for sixth with 50 laps to go, and it only takes two or three people to screw it up for everybody else.”