24. The Interview: Jesse Saunders

Editor’s Note: People Who Race tells the stories behind the faces in motorsports and are told by veteran award-winning television broadcaster Kaitlyn Vincie.

Behind every successful NASCAR Cup Series team is an experienced group of road-crew mechanics who keep everything buttoned up from the shop forward. Jesse Saunders, car chief for the No. 5 team at Hendrick Motorsports, has mastered the details and split-second problem solving required to keep a race team competitive. From winning championships with both Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Larson to playing a key role in some of the sport’s most memorable moments, Saunders has solidified himself as one of the most versatile mechanics in Cup Series competition.

KAITLYN VINCIE: You grew up in New Glarus, Wisconsin, and you were a driver yourself. How did your path to getting behind the wheel first begin?

JESSE SAUNDERS: My mom’s dad raced when I was younger, so the racing bug actually came from my mom’s side. My uncles all raced something, too. One raced late models and the other drag raced. I grew up going to the races with my parents, so it was something we did as a family. My earliest memories of going to races were on Friday and Saturday nights in Wisconsin. Eventually, my dad met some people and started helping guys at the track. Then, when I got to the age of racing go-karts, we purchased one, and it kind of kept going from there.

KAITLYN VINCIE: I need to see footage of you racing. You worked in the Craftsman Truck Series for some time and eventually made your way to Hendrick Motorsports in 2013, and you have been there ever since. The job of a car chief is a critical one. What all does your job entail during the week and at the track?

JESSE SAUNDERS: The role of a car chief has changed a lot, and it’s different for different teams. The way we operate on the No. 5 team is by ensuring all the cars are built the way (crew chief) Cliff Daniels and the engineers want. We have to make sure all of that gets carried out and that communication happens among the departments. I take more of an overview approach and make sure everyone is within bounds. The more nuanced things include making sure the car is good for tech inspection and makes it through inspection. I have various operations and processes throughout the weekend to make sure all of that happens and is carried out, so Cliff and the engineers can just worry about making the car go fast. I need to ensure everything is bolted and operating properly so they can keep that focus.

KAITLYN VINCIE: From my experience in the garage watching the road crews, from the moment you unload, everyone knows their role and knows their job. It’s a well-choreographed operation. How important is that chemistry of the road crew as a whole to a race team’s success? You spend so much time together, from the shop to 10 months on the road.

JESSE SAUNDERS: The chemistry is super important, and it’s important enough that every year, before the season starts, we practice unloading and determine which road crew member is where, what they do when we get in the garage, and who does which job. It’s a full mock day of that entire process to make sure any new members understand the flow. If we have any new processes, we can implement those at that point. This gives everybody the ability to understand why we do certain things and what to be looking out for.

Every generation of racer has their thing. If you talk to some of the veteran guys, they used to have to change motors in hotel parking lots. Maybe our weekends on paper look easier than that, but I almost think it’s a tick harder because there is really no room for error as opposed to the pre-COVID era or generations past. We just like to have all our guys be aware that things happen quickly and you’re only at the track for a short amount of time. You can’t afford to make a mistake and get yourself out of it. You have to do it right the first time.

KAITLYN VINCIE: Speaking of not getting yourself out of it—I think back to the Charlotte Roval in 2021. This was one of the most impressive repairs I’ve ever seen. The No. 5 had an alternator belt fail. You were a big part of the repair that kept the team in the hunt, and you all actually won that race. It was a pivotal moment for the championship run. What do you remember about that sequence of events?

JESSE SAUNDERS: That right there is a nod to having really good people, and it was a lot of work in the moment. But the whole team had to be a part of that because it was a pit stop, it was fixing the car, it was doing everything you could to not lose a lap and keep ourselves in it. At the end of the day, that’s probably going to go down as one of the coolest things I’ve done on pit road, and it was a pivotal moment.

It comes down to the people and knowing the task at hand and having the awareness to know how to fix something and move on. When you look at the No. 5 team’s history, we have had a lot of success, but we have also had wrecks and DVP repairs. So we try not to chase the highs and not get low in the low moments. That was a perfect example of, “Let’s just fix this and move on.”

KAITLYN VINCIE: I remember watching it in real time, and I thought to myself, “I cannot believe they just did that.” Another person who was a car chief and was one of the best our sport has ever seen was Ron Malec. You two had a close relationship. What are some lessons you learned from Ron about how to do the job and do it the right way?

JESSE SAUNDERS: I have a huge amount of respect for Ron. He didn’t really give advice, but you just had to watch and see how he operated. When he came off the road and I got the nod to replace him, there was no speech, no “good luck,” there was nothing. I think if I had gone and asked him something, he would have always helped. When it came to Ron, I had been able to watch him do his job for years, and I hoped that I could fulfill that role the best that I could. Just being in the same context as him, as good friends, I’ll take that, because I think he should be in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

KAITLYN VINCIE: I couldn’t agree more. I’ve always thought that, too. You yourself have been a part of Cup Series championships with Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Larson, two of the sport’s greats. Not many people can say that. What has it been like to be a part of their success?

JESSE SAUNDERS: Working with Jimmie and Kyle has been surreal. You don’t get to pick who your drivers are, but I think, in the same token, when you show up, pull your weight and bring something to the team, that is what allows you to stay there. I think back to when I first got on Jimmie’s team. There were a lot of good mechanics there that I was able to learn from. Then, when I got into a leadership role, the guys who trusted me gave me that opportunity to lead them. None of it would have happened if I wasn’t fortunate enough to be placed with good people along the way.

KAITLYN VINCIE: What Kyle Larson did over the weekend was pretty cool. We heard Cliff giving the team direction on the radio that they had a plan in place for him to go to Knoxville. What has it been like watching him achieve these remarkable feats?

JESSE SAUNDERS: I don’t get too surprised anymore when Kyle [Larson] pulls off these feats. You just think to yourself, “Yes, he can do that.” He’s more than capable. This weekend really did impress me. When I woke up Sunday morning and saw that he had won, I was like, “Wow, that happened.” I think it’s really cool to see. It’s a huge part of what makes Kyle, Kyle. I want to see him do things like that for the sake of motorsports, both in dirt racing and Cup racing. It’s good for the sport, it gets more eyes on it, and that’s a big part of what we need.