Questions about state Sen. Martin Nesbitt's son's stock-car racing team are at the heart of an ethics feud.

The Asheville Democrat volunteers as a crew chief for his son Mart's Nesbitt Racing Enterprises and co-owns a Swannanoa garage used as collateral for the company's line of credit. Until recently, the racing team was sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield, the Asheville Citizen-Times reports.

The State Ethics Commission advised Nesbitt in 2007 that he did not need to disclose the relationship as a potential conflict of interest on the statement of economic interest filed by legislators. After getting a tip on the matter, Republican state Auditor Les Merritt's office looked into the case.

A spokesman for Merritt would not confirm the legislator in question is Nesbitt but said the auditor is "proceeding with caution" and "not wanting to send something out that could be illegal."

The investigation led to a dispute between the Ethics Commission and the auditor's office over which agency has the responsibility to enforce the state's ethics law.

A bill to prohibit the auditor from looking into ethics cases is moving forward in the legislature.