Dale Earnhardt Plaza

Earnhardt’s father, also a stock car racer, raced up to three times a week to support the family living in Kannapolis. This in turn offered Earnhardt the foundation he would later use to launch his own stock car racing career.[1]

In 1970, local mechanics, the Dayvault family, sponsored Earnhardt’s first car, a 1956 Ford, for a race at Metrolina Speedway.[2] Today, members of the Dayvault family work for the NC Research Campus, in a case of coming full circle from mill workers, to mechanics, to researchers.[3] Earnhardt, however, quickly caught the eye of national race teams and in 1980, only his second year of racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, Earnhardt had won his first championship.[4]

Automobile racing has long been a popular sport in Kannapolis. From the 1909 east coast race that went through Main Street, to celebratory towels made at the mill for Richard Petty’s 200th victory and his racing headquarters in Kannapolis, racing culture is ingrained in the town’s DNA. Dale Earnhardt’s purchase of the Boll Weevils, Kannapolis’ minor league baseball team, and subsequent renaming to the Intimidators, his racing nickname, is a shining example of the love for the sport Kannapolis residents hold.[5]

When Earnhardt tragically passed away during the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, citizens in Kannapolis grieved. The town held a memorial service at the Intimidator’s ballpark and shortly after enacted plans to construct a permanent memorial to the Intimidator in downtown Kannapolis. In 2002, a 900-pound bronze statue of Dale Earnhardt was unveiled, along with pathway pavers that fans purchased and engraved. At its unveiling, over 3,000 race fans crowded around the statue to pay tribute to one of the most popular NASCAR drivers of all time.[6]

The park itself, funded by David Murdock, the county government, and tourism agencies, is full of symbolism. Flowers are planted in threes and benches are placed in threes to represent Earnhardt’s car number. Seven steps lead from the street to the statue to represent his seven championships, and the park is shaped in an oval to represent a racetrack.

Today, the local baseball team still pays tribute to Earnhardt. Though they have recently changed their team name to the Cannonballers, to honor the history of Cannon Mills, their logo pays homage to Earnhardt with a baseball sporting a thick, bushy, mustache similar to the one the Intimidator sported as a driver.

[1] http://mangowebdesign.com. “Dale Earnhardt (1951 - 2001).” North Carolina History Project, March 16, 2016. https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/dale-earnhardt-1951-2001/.

[2] Kannapolis: A Pictorial History, 187.

[3] Ford, Emily. “Piedmont Profile: Bridging Old and New: Ryan Dayvault's Kannapolis Roots Go Deep.” Salisbury Post. Salisbury Post, March 9, 2009. https://www.salisburypost.com/2009/03/09/piedmont-profile-bridging-old-and-new-ryan-dayvaults-kannapolis-roots-go-deep/.

[4] Kannapolis: A Pictorial History, 214.

[5] Kannapolis: A Pictorial History, 267.

[6] Kannapolis: A Pictorial History, 269.