LINCOLN COUNTY, N.C. — A head-on crash in Lincoln County claimed the life of a youth basketball coach and left another driver seriously injured Wednesday morning, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
Troopers said the crash happened around 11:15 a.m. on NC 27 near Long Circle in Iron Station when a westbound Ford Expedition crossed the center line and collided head-on with an eastbound Volvo. The Ford then caught fire after the impact.
The driver of the Volvo, 59-year-old Tracy Dale Mosteller of Vale, died at the scene. The driver of the Ford, Kevin Lee Long, was airlifted to Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center with serious injuries.
Mosteller’s family shared the photo above. He mentored hundreds of children as a youth coach and a referee in the Vale community.
“He helped hundreds and hundreds of kids,” his friend Dennis Dellinger said. “People loved Tracy. He was just a wonderful, godly man. Just devastating. I can’t even believe it. It’s hard just to think about him not being here anymore.”
Dellinger said Mosteller loved his family and had a strong faith. The best friend said he knows what Mosteller would want for the other driver.
“Tracy would want him to know Christ and change his life,” Dellinger said. “Tracy would tell you he would want him to be saved and turn his life around.”
Dustin Abernathy works near the crash scene.
“If there was impairment at 11:20, 11:30 in the day, that’s totally unacceptable at any time,” Abernathy said. “But to be that early, makes you think, ‘What are some people thinking when they’re on the road?”
Investigators believe impairment may have been a contributing factor in the crash. He survived the wreck after being pulled from his SUV before it caught fire. His condition has not been released.
The investigation remains ongoing, and charges are expected upon its completion. N.C. Highway 27 was closed for several hours while troopers investigated the scene.
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