Developer Withdraws Plans For Proposed Data Center On Dale Earnhardt’s Farmland After Backlash

A big win…for everybody but Teresa Earnhardt.

Last year, the widow of Dale Earnhardt asked officials in Mooresville, North Carolina to rezone a portion of the property that was once owned by the legendary NASCAR driver in order to build a $30 billion (not a typo – BILLION, with a B) technology park and data center on the land that is now owned by Teresa Earnhardt.

Teresa filed the rezoning application for 399 acres of the Intimidator’s former farmland, located just a couple miles from the Dale’s former racing shop, into an industrial complex called Mooresville Technology Park. A developer, Tract, was brought in for the project, though they didn’t yet have a client for the project, meaning they were hoping to build the data center and then attract a company to move in.

Well obviously this didn’t sit right with…well, a lot of people. Back in October 2024, the Mooresville Planning Board held a meeting that was attended by nearly 200 people, with almost all of them against the project, and at that time they unanimously voted against the rezoning effort. But in May of this year, the board ultimately voted 4-3 in favor of the project.

That meant that the final step in the approval process was putting the project in front of the Mooresville Board of Commissioners, at a meeting that was set to happen on September 15, for a vote.

But ahead of that vote, Earnhardt’s son Kerry Earnhardt came out firmly against the project, claiming that his father would be “livid” at the proposal and blasting the idea of a data center taking up precious land in a residential neighborhood:

https://twitter.com/KerryDEarnhardt/status/195091419401172585

The public was also firmly against it, and applied quite a bit of pressure to the Commissioners to deny the request for the rezoning.

It appeared to work, because just recently Mooresville Mayor Chris Carney indicated that the Commissioners were set to vote down the proposal, largely due to the fact that it’s still unknown which tech company would occupy it.

Carney explained that he and the commissioners “went and looked at what Amazon does versus what Microsoft does, which is different than Apple, Google, and they all kind of have their own thing. And there are some that have been done really well. But without knowing who it is you’re eventually going to end up with, it’s almost impossible to make a decision.”

The mayor made clear that they have tried to get answers from Tract on who would ultimately own the project, but they never got answers and it’s been over a year of trying at this point:

“Their model is to get it built and then go find the user, and I guess that’s the way the world likes to work now. I get that. If I’m Apple, I don’t want to be building a campus. I want somebody to build it for me, and then I can just move in, right?

At the end of the day, the only thing that makes sense about a data center to a municipality is, are you going to collect a lot of tax dollars. It is a financial decision.”

He doesn’t feel this deal is “make or break” for the town of Mooresville, and risks ultimately outweigh the rewards:

“There are so many opportunities with us in Mooresville for industry to come and bring great jobs, we really don’t need to blindly swing. And I think this not knowing who the final partner is, is not going to help us with purposeful growth.”

Well apparently the message was heard loud and clear by Tract, because yesterday the developer withdrew the proposal altogether – meaning the project is dead and Dale’s land will remain protected.

In a statement announcing that withdrawal, Mayor Carney made clear that the project is essentially dead and not just on hold:

“This morning, the Town of Mooresville received official notice from Tract developers that they have withdrawn their request for a proposed data center in Mooresville. This means the item will be removed from the September 15 agenda and will not move forward.

We appreciate the public’s input and the collaborative discussions that helped determine whether this project was the right fit for our community. As always, we want to keep residents informed, and we felt it was important to share this update as soon as possible.

There is no request to postpone — this is a full withdrawal. At this time, there is no active request for a data center in Mooresville.”

A representative for Tract said last week that they were “both disappointed and surprised” by the mayor’s comments opposing the project (I’m not sure why they were surprised, it seemed pretty clear where everybody stood…) and after the proposal was withdrawn Dan Brewer, an engineer representing the developer, didn’t have much to say:

“My client is Tract, I was instructed to withdraw it and that’s what I did. That’s the only comment I have.”

Neither Kerry nor Teresa Earnhardt have yet commented on the new developments, though you’ve gotta think that Kerry is pleased that his dad’s old hunting ground will be protected. And as for Teresa Earnhardt…well, it’s just another in a long line of moves she’s made since her husband’s death that have failed to endear her to his fans or family.The post Developer Withdraws Plans For Proposed Data Center On Dale Earnhardt’s Farmland After Backlash first appeared on Whiskey Riff.