Memory Lane Motorsports & Automotive Museum in Mooresville was a rousing success. Hundreds of race fans found room indoors to meet and talk with dozens of former drivers and mechanics who turned out to honor one of their own. That would be Jake Elder, a longtime crew chief known in racing circles as “Suitcase Jake” because of the many stops he had along the path in his racing career. Elder won championships with David Pearson and Dale Earnhardt [along with Doug Richert in 1980, Edler left the team in May], but there’s more to him that just what you can list in record books. Elder had next to no formal education and those who know him will tell you he never wrote anything down. That does not mean that he was not also a great teacher who passed on some of his knowledge about racing and race cars to the generation who followed. Elder sat Saturday in a room lined with tables full of people he’d once raced with and against. It would have been wonderful if Elder could have a told a story about each person willing to tell a story on him, but Elder’s health no longer allows that. This was Elder’s first trip in a year or so outside the assisted-care facility in Statesville [NC] where he now lives. Elder’s friends came to raise money to help the family deal with the financial burden of his long-term care.(in part from the Charlotte Observer)
AND: Saturdays wet weather likely hurt the days attendance, but didnt dull the excitement of the crowd. Well before the scheduled 10 a.m. opening, the line of fans had already begun to snake around three walls inside the building, back through the museum and out into the gift shop. They had arrived with a little bit of everything “ from die-cast cars and trading cards to racing helmets and thick scrapbooks. Some arrived with nothing more than memories of days gone by and races already run. The people they came to see were no less pleased to lend their time to such a worthy cause. And the group ran the gamut, from championship-winning drivers to noted engine builders and crew chiefs. An all-star lineup that included Richard Petty, Bobby and Donnie Allison. Little Bud Moore and Neil”Soapy” Castles. Travis Carter, Ned Jarrett and Jimmy Hensley. Famed engine builders Wilson and Lou LaRosa. Former crew chiefs Dale Inman, Hammond, Tim Brewer and Mike Beam.(SceneDaily)(3-15-2009)