Tract has withdrawn plans to build a data center on land in North Carolina formerly owned by the late NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt.

In August, the developer announced its intention to build the Mooresville Technology Park outside Mooresville in Iredell County, some 30 miles north of Charlotte.

The 400-acre site, between Patterson Farm Road and Rustic Road, is currently used as farmland, and could have accommodated a total of 1.5 million sq ft (139,354 sqm) of data center space at full build-out.

However, following local opposition, the scheme has been withdrawn.

Chris Carney, Mayor of Mooresville, said Tract had informed the local council it was not moving forward with the plan, and that it would be removed from the agenda of September 15 meeting, where it had been due to be discussed.

Writing on Facebook, Carney said: “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.”

The news will be welcomed by campaigners opposing the scheme, including 200 residents who stood up to protest a rezoning request for the land at previous meetings. A dedicated website, NoDataCenterMooresvilleNC.com, was set up to coordinate resistance to the scheme, dubbed “The Concrete Monster” by residents.

Opponents included one of Earnhardt’s sons, Kerry Earnhardt, who has spoken out against the plans on several occasions and posted a 22-minute YouTube video on Friday reiterating his concerns about the scheme, saying it was “a property his dad was proud of.”

Dale Earnhardt is a legendary NASCAR driver and seven-time winner of the sport’s Winston Cup championship. He died in a crash at the Daytona 500 race in 2001. The land is currently owned by his widow, Teresa Earnhardt, via Earnhardt Farms LLC.

Colorado-based Tract was founded by former Cologix CEO Grant van Rooyen and describes itself as a company that acquires, zones, entitles, and develops ‘master-planned’ data center parks. The company aims to get sites zoned, powered, and shovel-ready for other companies to develop data centers on.

After launching in Nevada, Tract has plans for large-scale campuses across Texas, Virginia (x2), Arizona, Minnesota (x2), and Utah. On its website, the company also lists planned developments in Iowa and Illinois.

Tract’s parent, Tract Capital, recently launched a dedicated data center developer, known as Fleet DC.

DCD has contacted the company for further details on why it pulled its application.