OKTAHA — The shirt and tie appearance of an administrator is standard dress for David Vinson – limited of course, to weekdays.

On weekends, the Checotah Intermediate School principal shucks his formal look for the standard fire-retardant jump suit of a race car driver. The Oktaha native who lives just a stones throw from Outlaw Motor Speedway, spends his Saturday evenings tooling around the three-eighths mile oval in the Pure Stock Class.

Two weeks ago, three busloads of Checotah elementary school students were on hand to watch their principal race. He did not disappoint, finishing first in the B Feature and 10th in the A feature. Between races, he journeyed into the south grandstands and told his captive audience about being a race car driver.

He took last week off to spend some time with his family, but he’ll be back tonight — and undoubtedly some of his students will be in attendance cheering him on — for the weekly racing program at OMS. Racing time is 8 p.m.

“Racing on dirt tracks is something I’ve craved since my high school days,” said the 31-year-old father of two. “I grew up in Wagoner and have been racing on and off since I was 14.”

Until last year, most of his driving was confined to Salina Highbanks and Pure Stocks. After a season of battling the high expenses of driving an E-Mod at OMS, he decided if he was going to continue racing, he had to return to his roots.

And about the time he made the decision, last year’s Pure Stock Champion, Bob Lewis, decided to retire and his car went up for sale.

“It was good timing,” Vinson said. “He had a championship car and I was an interested buyer. We agreed on price and now I have some of the best wheels I have every driven.”

Vinson wasted little time in settling into his new ride. He won the season’s opening Pure Stock feature and has been a consistent top 10 finisher since. He is in third place in the division’s points run – with 631. Muskogee’s Terry Cook is the leader with 668, with Tahlequah’s Jason Ward second, nine points in front of Vinson.

“I just could not afford to run E-Mods because I could not make enough money to sustain the upkeep on the car and be competitive,” Vinson said. “Pure stock is really what I like. Driving a Pure Stock is more of a chess match than a horsepower run of the E-Mods.

“In Pure Stock racing is all about the handling of your car and a certain finesse on the track. In E-Mods you have to have the handling qualities, but winning is more about horsepower.”

Vinson’s early racing goals were like every other young driver.

“I had NASCAR visions, but early on I realized that is only for a select few,” Vinson said. “Now it’s about having a good time. I’ve found racing helps me relieve the stress of my daytime job.”

Vinson’s stress level will go up a notch next year. He is slated to become principal at Checotah High. He’s been with the school system since 1999, first serving as the school’s boys basketball coach before getting into administration in 2003.

In racing, Vinson says he gets excellent advice from his father-in-law, Phil Branan, his chief mechanic, Greg Carmack of Checotah, and his cousin, Richard Vinson.

“Phillip’s an old race car driver (and retired OMS flagman) and he knows his stuff. And then Mike does all the major work on the car and if he every quits me, I’m toast when it comes to racing.”

Wife Jennifer usually watches from the grandstands along with daughter, Erica, 11 and son Tye, 2.

“Jennifer leaves the car to me and Erica. My daughter is my biggest fan,” Vinson said.

And you can bet he also has a lot of young fans at Checotah Intermediate School as well.