"Dr. Hook"

Vinnie Elsinger, Morris, Inc. Manufacturing Manager, came to Morris, Inc in a round about way in early 2005. Following a meeting with Nancy Morris, in March 2005, Elsinger was encouraged to speak with Milton Morris concerning the pending opening of Oahe Speedway that summer. Elsinger recalls a tour of the speedway as not much more than "a hole in the ground" on his first visit to the property. Local Pierre racing enthusiasts, John Hines and Curt Humann, urged Elsinger to get in touch with Morris. A series of phone calls set up a meeting between Elsinger and Morris. Elsinger’s drag racing experience, as a welder/fabricator, racer, and track manager at Thunder Valley Dragway in Marion, SD, prompted Morris to ask Elsinger to take a look at Oahe Speedway. In addition , Elsinger had worked for NHRA on the national level as a technical inspector specializing in Pro Stock car, Pro Stock bike and Funny Car body issues. On the NHRA divisional level, he dealt with Sportsman class technical inspection. Elsinger’s original intent was to consult and advise for a period of time and then return to Sioux Falls and his fabrication ventures. Showing up at Oahe, three days before the original opening date, Elsinger sensed that there was a lot more to be done before the first cars were to run down the track. A lot of negotiating ensued in convincing Morris that the track was just not ready, pushing the official opening to a date in early July 2005. The track opened on July 4th weekend. Elsinger continued to commute back and forth to Sioux Falls, fully intending to make the Oahe Speedway duties a short stint. As time went on, it became obvious that his talents were needed both by the track and Morris Inc. In discussions that followed, Morris was in the process of developing a manufacturing concept when he asked Elsinger what he thought of air jig manufacturing and if, in fact, any money could be made in the process. The answer, "Hell yeah, you can build ‘em", provoked a response from Morris, saying, "You’re going to build them, not me!". Elsinger gave up the commute to and from Sioux Falls in September 2006 and moved his belongings to Fort Pierre.

"Dr. Hook?" Elsinger comes by the nickname in the ensuing manner. Following a year and a half of experimenting with a rival traction compound, 2007 saw a switch to a new compound. In switching to VHT, the track was brought in to line with most NHRA tracks. VHT is utilized for all national events on the NHRA championship tour. While the new compound has shown a few problems, the track saw a turn around at the recently completed NHRA National Open held this past weekend. Two new Super Stock NHRA national records were set and both ends of the Oahe Speedway track records were set by a new blown alcohol altered from Black Hawk, SD driven by Richard Whipple. The elapsed time of 6.968 seconds and top speed of 193.21 proved that the track can produce the big numbers. Countless hours of track preparation by Elsinger and a host of volunteers set up the track for these record runs.