Kannapolis NC Tourism officials say the removal of Dale Trail banners from around the city does not mark the end of the Dale Trail attraction. The banners were removed Thursday upon the request of Castle & Cooke, developer of the North Carolina Research Campus, owned by billionaire David Murdock. DeSales Wagster, president and CEO of the Cabarrus County Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the Dale Trail remains extremely popular with visitors to the CVB welcome center, and she hopes the attraction could be restructured to include more historical markers and audio tours. “I think people want more content and more information about Dale Earnhardt Jr.,” Wagster said. The Dale Trail leads race fans on a tour of locations important to the life of the late NASCAR legend and Kannapolis native Dale Earnhardt. She said the CVB was recently approached by Castle & Cooke about the removal of the banners, which had become somewhat tattered. “All this was very friendly,” Wagster said. “No, Murdock did not intimidate us to take down the Dale Trail. It was like neighbor doing for neighbor.” Officials have said Castle & Cooke’s request to remove the banners was in preparation for a VIP guest expected [Oprah?] to tour the research campus today with Murdock. Officials said they could not confirm whom the VIP guest would be. Wagster said she hoped to work with Castle & Cooke to find a way to mesh both motor sports marketing and the research campus. “Motorsports is science to a degree, and the research campus is science,” Wagster said. “So we may be able to blend these two things.” On July 18, Kannapolis City Manager Mike Legg issued a memo to Kannapolis City Council saying the Dale Trail banners would be permanently removed. Legg said the city planned to spend $25,000 this year on improvements to Dale Earnhardt Plaza in Cannon Village. Wagster said the banners will soon go up for sale on eBay.com, with plans to use the funds to pay Kannapolis back for their removal.(Kannapolis Independent Tribune)(7-26-2008)
