Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a rare celebrity for the Charlotte area: born here, raised here, still living here, with no plans to leave. Ever.

The 37-year-old, NASCAR’s most popular driver, was born in Kannapolis and has lived in Mooresville since 1982. He’s in Concord routinely – either at Charlotte Motor Speedway or Hendrick Motorsports – and is also uptown quite a bit (he owns the popular Whisky River nightclub at the EpiCentre). In the summer, on weekends he’s not racing, he can often be found at Lake Norman.

What Earnhardt loves about living here: “I’ve lived in Mooresville since I was a child and have a real connection to the town. North Carolinians to me are all the same, in the sense that there’s Southern hospitality no matter the size of the town or the city – they all have good manners and treat you well and are nice.

“I love the weather. I’ve got a place in Florida and it’s 80 degrees every day there. It sounds awesome, but you kind of like to have the wintertime every once in awhile, you know, so you get to wear your hoodies. We get a little bit of everything here. I wish we got more snow, but we have great, great summers.

“I love the atmosphere in this area. I don’t want it to be bigger, I don’t want it to be smaller. It’s a comfortable place for me. I’ve been to New York and Chicago and all these other big cities, and they’re very intimidating. Charlotte’s not intimidating at all to me.

“I’ll probably reside in this area for the rest of my life. It’s hard to beat North Carolina.”

Favorite hangouts in Charlotte: EpiCentre joints including Enso Asian Bistro & Sushi Bar the StrikeCity bowling alley; Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre.

Favorite hangouts at Lake Norman: The Rusty Rudder, 20210 Henderson Road #101, Cornelius; Vinny’s Sardine Grill & Raw Bar, 643 Williamson Road, Mooresville.

Favorite hangouts in Mooresville: The Daily Grind Grill & Café, 862 Brawley School Road #107; Epic Chophouse, 104 S. Main St.; JJ Wasabi’s, 183 N. Main St.

–Théoden Janes, Living Here editor