Dragster driver hopes to fire up imaginations

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In a jet dragster, you go from 0 to 100 in one second and you approach 300 mph at the end of the quarter-mile. That’s been Elaine Larsen‘s life for more than 25 years, but now she also teaches. 

Monday, she was at Bisk Education in Tampa talking to students about the science, technology, engineering, and math required to design, build and drive her dragster. 

"We’ll work with aerospace, mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineers," explained Larsen.  "There's a lot of science that goes into keeping this missile on the ground and going fast."    

Larsen won a championship in 2015 with an all-female crew. 

"We continue to learn every time we go to the drag strip. If something goes wrong, then we have to fix it," offered Kat Redner, a member of the Larsen Motorsports team. 

Larsen is based in Melbourne at Florida Institute of Technology. She's a long-time competitor at Bradenton Motorsports Park. Her team will be there December 2 for the Jet Jam event.