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LEVEL CROSS — Jeff Kivett is in charge of keeping King Richard's Skoal fresh.

Kivett keeps a 10-pack of the smokeless tobacco stashed in an ice cream freezer beside the front door of his family's gas station on U.S. 220 Business.

Whenever Richard Petty is in town, he stops by for gas and picks up the fresh roll of Skoal cans — in the "long cut" variety.

NASCAR has outgrown the era of such personal touches, however, and Petty has decided it's time for his family's 58-year-old racing shops to move on. He said Wednesday that Petty Enterprises will move to Mooresville, near the heart of the racing business in Charlotte.

It's all about business now, an intensely competitive international business that no longer flourishes in small communities such as Level Cross.

Kivett knows that he, like other small-business owners, will lose some income when the shop's 115 jobs leave at the end of the year.

But those left behind aren't thinking about the money. They'll miss the fun and friendship of the Petty Enterprises people.

"We just like the guys," said Robin Wilkerson, who works at The Outer Edge restaurant across the highway from Kivett Auto Care.

"They're all good guys who work there," she said. "We're going to miss them."

Wilkerson, whose daughter and sister own the restaurant, said some of Petty's workers announced their move recently in the restaurant and a group of local firefighters were upset about it.

She expects business will be good for the most part. But, "we don't want to say goodbye to them," she said.

"We're really not going to say goodbye per se," Petty told the media Wednesday. "The Petty family is not moving out of Level Cross, North Carolina. The Petty Enterprises compound will be there in some way, shape or form ... So, the place is not going to close down completely, might not be as many people running around but we're not leaving Randolph County from that standpoint.''

Petty's shops were founded by his father, Lee, in 1949. Most racing shops began in small towns. But Charlotte has gradually become the hub of the industry. And Kivett can understand why teams must gather together.

Kyle Petty's Victory Junction Gang Camp will stay in Randolph County, and the Richard Petty Museum likely will stay there.

Fans say they treasure the small-town history of racing, but it must grow or die.

"I'm surprised they've held off until now," said Brad Hudson of Cary, who was visiting the Richard Petty Museum Wednesday. He said Petty's shops are too old to upgrade now.

"It will leave, I'm sure, an emptiness to the community here," Hudson said. "It's an active, working, breathing facility."

Petty buys much of his gas at Kivett's family business. Petty Enterprises fuels up its rigs there also.

Before Kivett's dad bought the gas station, Petty's low-budget biography, "43: The Richard Petty Story," was filmed there, Kivett said.

Kivett says he has a great time with Petty.

"I don't never call him Richard. I just throw my hand up and go 'King!'" he said.

Petty can still cause a ruckus, even in his hometown. Last week, a school bus full of kids in kindergarten through fifth grade dropped Kivett's stepson off at the station while Petty was getting gas.

"Them kids was hanging off the bus," he said. "They're all screaming and yelling."

But Kivett is sorry that future children won't get to see Petty around town as often.

"To be that close to somebody so famous," Kivett said, "it just feels normal because he acts so normal."

Contact Richard M. Barron at 373-7371 or dbarron@news-record.com