"Suitcase" JAKE ELDER - 11/22/1936 - 02/24/2010
was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series crew chief. He was the championship crew chief for two years and for part of a third season. Elder had these successes despite never passing through third grade. Elder was known as "Suitcase Jake" because he could never settle down at one organization for long period of time, hopping from one organization to the next. Elder was known for being a great chassis man and had great knowledge of car setups. His first crew chief job came as heading up the efforts of Dick Hutcherson for Holman Moody. Hutcherson won at Bristol in Elder's fifth start. In 1967 Elder worked with Holman Moody on a part-time basis. He was crew chief for Mario Andretti in five events; and he won the Daytona 500. He was also crew chief for Bobby Allison the final two races of 1967; and the duo won both events. 1968 was a high water mark for Elder as he wrenched for David Pearson for 47 of the seasons 49 events. The pairing would prove fruitfull as they won 16 times and won the Cup Championship. However, Elder only worked as crew chief for three races in 1969; once with Parnelli Jones and once with Ernie
Shaw. 1970 saw Edler not crew chief at all. Elder and Pearson paired together for ten events in 1971 and won once. In 1972 Elder left Holman Moody to work as crew chief for driver / owner Darrell Waltrip. They started four events and posted one Top 5 finish. Edler remained with Waltrip from 1973-1975. In 1973 and 1974 they ran part time and posted eight Top 5 finishes. Waltrip ran the full schedule in 1975 and the pair won on two occasions. In 1976 Jake once again packed his bags and left Waltrip to work for car owner LG DeWitt and his driver Benny Parsons; a place Elder would stay through 1978. In their first season Parsons would win twice; and follow that up with four wins in 1977 and add three more in 1978. In 1979 he left to go to work for owner Rod Osterland and a young Dale Earnhardt Sr. After Earnhardt won his first race, Elder said to him "Stick with me, kid, and we’ll win diamonds as big as horse turds". Earnhardt would win at Bristol; before getting injured at Pocono later in the year, missing four races. David Pearson was brought in to race the car during that span and won the Southern 500. In 1980 Earnhardt won twice before Edler left and set out the rest of the season. Elder started out the 1981 season wrenching for driver Ricky Rudd and DiGard Racing, but was let go after only three races. He headed up the efforts of AJ Foyt in Atlanta; and then found himself again looking for work. Owner Billy Hagan hired Elder to crew chief Terry Labonte's ride the final 14 races of that season. He remained working for Hagan in 1982; but after posting on wins that year he was left go. 1983 saw Elder on the side lines; but the following year he was hired by the Stavola Brother race team to lead the efforts of Bobby Hillin who was racing on a part time basis. He again started out 1985 as chief of Bobby Hillins efforts; but after five raves the Stavola Brothers swapped crew chiefs between their two cars. Wayne Baumgarder was swapped over to head up Hillin; and Elder moved to work with Ron Bouchard. He posted four Top 5's including a second at Rockingham. In 1986 Elder moved to owner Jack BeBee and driver owner Morgan Shephard. Elder was gone by race number three; even though they had won the Atlanta race. In 1987 he led Cale Yarborough who had formed his own team for four events; and 1988 saw him crew chief just once. In 1990 Edler again had a full time gig working for Yates Racing and driver Davey Allison. The group won twice that season. Elder was lured away from Yates Racing in 1990 by owner Dick Moroso to head up the car driven by his son Rob Moroso. Unfortunately Rob would be killed shortly after the 25th race of the season in an automobile accident. The next season Elder would return to Yates Racing working with Allison. He was released after four races and replaced by Larry McReynolds. 1992 was Elders last season as a crew chief. He was hired by owner / driver Darrell Waltrip as he replaced Jeff Hammond for the final 13 races of the season. Waltrip would win twice after Elder joined him. The Southern 500 would be the last win for both Elder and Waltrip. Elder suffered a stroke in 2006 and in early 2008 he had a bout with pneumonia. Elder died on February 24, 2010 of natural causes. For his career Elder won 43 races with nine different drivers. Major wins include: Daytona 500 (1967, 1971); Southern 500 (1978, 1979, and 1992); plus the Championship in 1968
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