Mooresville, North Carolina, is practically synonymous with Dale Earnhardt, the NASCAR legend whose larger-than-life presence still looms over the town. But now, a family feud is putting his legacy front and center in a way no one saw coming.

Teresa Earnhardt, Dale’s widow, is pushing for a massive $30 billion data center on rural land she owns off Patterson Farm Road, a project dubbed the Mooresville Technology Park. It’s a plan that promises big bucks, hundreds of millions in tax revenue over 20 years and nearly 200 jobs.

But for the folks living in the quiet, rural neighborhoods nearby, it’s a nightmare in the making, threatening the area’s peaceful charm with industrial sprawl. “I was horrified. I couldn’t understand why, of all places, they’d do that out here,” said Krissy Washington, a resident since 1991. “We’re not opposed to growth. But we don’t want an industrial wasteland.”

The opposition’s organized, too, with a website, NoDataCenterMooresvilleNC.com, and “No Data Center” signs lining nearly every driveway. They’re even pointing out a vacant data center just six miles away, questioning why another is needed.

The plot thickened when Kerry Earnhardt, Dale’s eldest son, stepped into the fray, taking a stand against his stepmother’s plan. His outspoken opposition has turned this into more than a zoning dispute, it’s a family drama playing out in the shadow of Dale’s legacy, with Mooresville’s rural heart hanging in the balance.

“This project does not belong here”: Kerry slams the data center plan

Kerry Earnhardt didn’t hold back when he took to his YouTube channel, Dale’s-Middle E Media, to slam the proposed data center. “This project does not belong where they’re trying to put it. They’re putting it in the 400-acre plot that is running by homes all the way around it.”

He’s spot-on about the setting. The 399 to 400-acre site, owned by Teresa’s Earnhardt Farms LLC, sits in a residential-agricultural zone along Patterson Farm Road and Coddle Creek, surrounded by rural homes. Developer Tract wants it rezoned for industrial use to build a sprawling data center campus, but locals are up in arms over traffic, noise, and light pollution. Yard signs and packed town meetings show the depth of the pushback, with residents fighting to keep their neighborhood’s character intact.

Kerry dug deeper into the issue, pointing out a flaw in the developer’s pitch. “That’s the frustrating part… the boundaries at the property line… Well the place that’s cleared out is up above that boundary on top of a hill so that boundary does no good… It don’t block anything.”

He’s calling out the visibility problem. Despite promises of vegetation buffers, the site’s hilltop location means the facility could loom over nearby homes. Neighbors have echoed this, saying berms and trees won’t hide the massive data halls and cooling towers. The developer insists the screening is enough, but the elevated terrain undermines that claim, fueling fears of an eyesore that could tank property values.

His decision to speak out was a shift. “I haven’t personally spoke in person about this project until now,”

Kerry admitted. While he’d posted earlier in August that “Data Centers don’t belong in neighborhoods” and that his father “would be livid,” he’d mostly stayed out of public hearings, leaving the floor to neighbors and activists. His YouTube comments, timed ahead of the September 15 Board of Commissioners’ hearing, add a heavyweight voice to the opposition. With the Earnhardt name carrying serious clout in Mooresville, Kerry’s stance isn’t just personal, it’s a rallying cry for those fighting to preserve the land’s rural roots.

While Kerry’s battling over his father’s legacy off the track, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is stirring things up in NASCAR’s on-track world.

Dale Jr. clashes with Kyle Petty over Next Gen car

On a recent Dale Jr. Download podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t mince words about the Next Gen car, saying, “I don’t love the Next Gen car. It’s an IMSA car. It’s a sports car. It’s got a diffuser, low-profile tires, big rims, and big brakes. It’s not a NASCAR stock car, but it’s here. Everybody’s invested.” His frustration lies in the car’s departure from NASCAR’s traditional roots, feeling more like a sleek sports car than the raw, stock-inspired machines of yesteryear.

Kyle Petty, son of legend Richard Petty, pushed back, arguing the Next Gen car, introduced in 2022, is a leap forward. “We have not raced stock cars since about 1958. We race NASCARs… Embrace it, enjoy it. We’re seeing some spectacular stuff on the race track, and I think it’s only going to get better.” Petty sees the car as part of NASCAR’s evolution, a proactive step to steer innovation. But Dale Jr.’s team wasn’t buying it. Producer Travis Rockhold snarked, “I’d like to ask Kyle what spectacular stuff has he seen”.

Prompting Junior to reply with a Seinfeld GIF of Kramer saying, “Frankly, it sounds made up.” NASCAR historian Brock Beard chimed in, noting teams can’t innovate freely anymore without penalties, a constraint that frustrates traditionalists like Junior.

Petty countered, “A racecar is a constantly changing and evolving piece of equipment. In time it can and will change. The problem right now is we live in a world of instant gratification. No one wants to wait.” Junior, while critical, still believes in NASCAR’s future.