My daughter wants to drive the Dart,,,,,

And the fastest thing she has ridden in is probably the 14 second Duster I drove when she was little. Reason for the post, I need a game plan to make sure she is going to succeed at this.
My daughter is 37 years old, and has done some rather intense stuff. Like free falling into a net from eleven storys up. So I think the car won't intimidate her to the point she can't adjust.
My first request to her was to get into a Go-Kart and get some driving experience as far as handling goes. That will give her some practice with reacting to what is happening in the car.
After that, I figure a full training session about the car, cockpit test, starting and running the car in the pits, and lots of practice of the driving routine.
After I feel she is ready, some low to medium power launchs by setting the throttle stop. Then as she goes through the six license runs, increasing just like they want.
My question is, for someone that has NEVER driven a drag car much less an 8 second car, what else should I do?
Might be better to consider a drag racing school? I keep thinking of all the other women that drive pro cars, and they had to start somewhere!

She wont have any problems... might set it up on
a 2 BBL for a bit

Greg, sounds like she easily has the nerve to do it. As far as helping get ready, talk to Sanborn (40 Ford). He put his son (who had never drag raced)in a very quick front motor dragster. His son did have a lot of experience in some very serious dirt track cars so he already was adapt at thinking at "race speed". And, achieving that is probably the biggest thing. Laps, and developing second nature reactions to situations are key.
1st lesson should be where, when and how to hit that kill-switch.

Greg,
Standing on the starting line, watching my Daughter run my Challenger, was the single most nervous event for me in 25 years at the Track!

I started by writing down every single action required by the driver from start-up at the head of the lanes, to the launch at the tree. I was shocked by all the steps we take for granted. After having her rehearse them in the car, I realized it was just too much, so I broke it into two halves. I added an extra step after she cleared the burn-out box, and put the tranny in nuetral, the added step was called "JUST BREATHE", then start to stage...

Her first burnout went flawlessly, and when she clicked nuetral, I opened the door and peered in at her. Her eyes were as big as saucers and she was white-knuckling the wheel.. "What's next"? I questioned, "Just breathe" she shouted, and instantly regained her composure and focus. Then she staged and did everything according to plan.

She might cut better lights than you after only a few lessons. Dont bring her along to slowly, she may lose interest.

O boy now the fun starts !

I think you have a very well thought out plan already.......some seat time in a school wouldn't hurt , but probably isn't a necessity.
Work on establishing a routine regarding each phase of the run.....like anything else , it becomes mechanical. Next thing you know , you're actually good at it........except a golf swing for some reason.

I like the go kart idea......they are nimble and require very quick reactions to make them go fast. There used to be an indoor track up your way ( Blaine ) that had some quick carts......if they are still in business , I'd start there.

not trying to be negative at all or that she couldn't do it without issue but the one thing to remember is that most people with basic interest and skills can drive some pretty fast stuff when it's going straight. it's when things start to go wrong that an inexperienced driver can get in trouble especially in a fast car and as i'm sure you know things can go bad real fast. my brother who had never gone down the track on anything faster than a 10 second bike (one or two runs) was going 8 teens by his third license run (they weren't happy about it either) but a dragster is a different story.

personally if it's an option i would think getting some time in a milder car than yours would be a good idea so she can become accustomed to driving and the overall experience of racing first.

Limit throttle, pull some timing, chip the two step down, short shift. Greg's a smart guy, he can figure out ways to kill ET for awhile as she gets used to the car.

I think she'll pick it up faster than you think.

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I think she'll pick it up faster than you think.

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not suggesting otherwise, she might pick it up in a few passes. i guess the one thing that comes to mind is that often your faster machines are harder to run incrementally. 10-11 second machines are one thing but when you're in the eights on the bars it's a bit different. i know it's an apples to oranges comparison but from my experience trying to ride a fast bike slow just doesn't work well. you need to "hit" it to set the chassis and keep it working properly. i would think to some point his car is similar, it needs to be run fairly hard to make it work right.

not saying there would be any problem just offering some thoughts