The widow of the late Dale Earnhardt, Teresa, is working towards rezoning the legendary property once owned by the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion into a data center and that decision has drawn the ire of both family and the local community.
For much of the past year, the reclusive widow has made plans to rezone 399 acres of the land into a data center. This is a $30 billion deal as detailed by the Charlotte Observer that will be up for discussion by the Mooresville, North Carolina Board of Commissioners on Monday in advance of a potential vote in September.
While there is a local community of activists against the idea on both conservation and historic grounds, the most notable critic is the oldest son of Earnhardt Sr., Kerry Earnhardt, who took to social media to protest the concept.
“My Dad would be livid for his name to be associated in this title! Frankly, I’m ashamed our family name is involved in the request to rezone a community that is thriving as a Rural Residential/Agriculture zone to be changed to Industrial.
“Infrastructures like this don’t belong in neighborhoods where people’s natural resources will be depleted, wildlife will be uprooted, and the landscape and lives of the people that call this area home with forever be changed. I’d rather see homes built with people loving the land we live on… the way his area was intended to be! I look forward to Monday’s meeting at the Mooresville Town Hall.”
Of note, the likes of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt-Miller have not weighed into the matter on their various platforms.
Before this can even be approved, the decision is subject to multiple public comment opportunities like Monday, and the final decision for a rezoning would be voted upon by the board and any tiebreaker coming at the hand of Mooresville Mayor Chris Carney.
Teresa Earnhardt, for her part, has been out of the public spotlight since selling her share of what used to be Dale Earnhardt Inc., the Cup Series team, after it merged with Chip Ganassi Racing. She very notably does not get along with the children of her late husbands’ previous marriages and has been subject to various high-profile disagreements with them.
In addition to her falling out with Dale Earnhardt Jr. when he left the DEI Cup Series team in 2007, Teresa also had several court dates with Kerry over his use of a stylized ‘EARNHARDT’ branding used by his furniture company.
The Earnhardt children are also not welcome on the property and have not visited Earnhardt Sr’s gravesite in quite a long time having not been on terms with Teresa over the past decade plus.
