Getting behind the wheel of a 840bhp Dodge Challenger SRT Demon and learning how to drag race properly sounds like the stuff of pipe dreams only. But the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving is now offering just that for real, as part of an all-new training program that it has just unveiled. Bondurant reckons it’s the first program of its kind, as it offers professional drag racing instruction from behind the wheel of the world’s most powerful street legal cars to the public. Or rather, it’s on offer to those paying $1999 for a place, plus places are limited to only 16 per class. Two dates for the program have been confirmed so far—July 27 and August 17 this year—and more courses will be announced in the coming weeks.
The program features the most powerful street-legal production Dodge SRT vehicles. As well as the Challenger SRT Demon, there will be the 707hp Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and Hellcat Widebody, and the 485hp Dodge Challenger SRT 392. Bondurant School of High Performance Driving CEO Bruce Belser believes also that classes are likely to fill, given only a limited number of Demons were produced and there may not be many opportunities to drive the car.
The program will be held at Bondurant’s facility and the official NHRA drag strip at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, which sits on approximately 200 acres in Chandler, Arizona. Students do not have to own Dodge SRT vehicles to enrol in the course, nor do they need to have drag racing experience. Enrolment for the classes is now open.
The full-day course will start with classroom instruction for around two hours and will address the fundamental rules of drag racing, such as getting proper launch, staging technique, reaction time, signals and safety pre- and post-checks. It will then be followed by on-track instruction under the direction and supervision of a professional Bondurant instructor. The in-classroom and on-track instruction is then followed by the serious stuff, with eight one-eighth of a mile high-octane runs behind the wheel.
“We’re thrilled to offer this new drag racing program with our partners at Dodge SRT,” added Belser. “Drag racing is an adrenaline-filled motorsport that requires a certain set of skills. Our new course will help drivers of every skill level improve their technique and drop their one-eighth mile time behind the wheel of powerful Dodge SRT vehicles.”
Images courtesy of Bondurant School of High Performance Driving
