Day:

Concord is the heart of NASCAR country, and motorsports is only part of what keeps Cabarrus County working. Charlotte Motor Speedway and the cluster of

Rock Hill is where fast-growing York County meets the southern edge of the Charlotte boom. Just across the state line from Charlotte, the city has

Gastonia once called itself the Combed Yarn Capital of the World, and Gaston County still makes its living on the factory floor. The textile mills