Payne: Dodge’s Roadkill Nights moving to a new strip

Posted by Talbot Payne on April 28, 2023

Roadkill Nights is finding new roads to slay.

Sponsored by Dodge, MotorTrend’s popular, tire-smoking, ear-shattering, legal drag racing event on Woodward Avenue in Pontiac is moving to a new venue this August. Since 2016, it has entertained muscle car fans at the corner of Woodward and South Boulevard and the adjoining M1 Concourse car club property. MotorTrend told M1 this month that the event is moving to a new location.

“There were apparently concerns with construction on the southbound lanes of Woodward to put in a U-turn lane and whether that might change the configuration of the drag strip,” said M1 CEO Tim McGrane. “Concerns included whether the construction could be done on schedule, and if the northbound lanes would be a suitable, safe alternative.”

The Michigan Department of Transportation is putting in a Michigan turn north of the busy Woodward-South Boulevard intersection and construction is scheduled to wrap up by Memorial Day. But for MotorTrend, the key issue was safety.

“M1 has been a tremendous partner. Changing our venue is the result of MDOT making road improvements for the businesses in the area,” said MotorTrend Chief Commercial Officer Eric Schwab who brainstormed the idea of Roadkill Nights with Dodge boss Tim Kuniskis nine years ago. “Putting in a Michigan turn there prevents the southbound lanes from being a straight shot.”

Launched seven years ago, MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge has become the unofficial kickoff of Dream Cruise week (the Cruise is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 19 this year). Its legal, MDOT-sanctioned celebration of street racing has been embraced by the muscle car culture that rules Woodward in the summer.

The drag-palooza attracted a record 40,000-plus spectators in 2022 and inspired an expansion of the franchise to a similar event in Las Vegas. In addition to legal drag racing on Metro Detroit’s iconic main street, the event has been a showcase for the latest Dodge muscle cars, and the brand says its 2023 location will continue that tradition.

Last of the breed. The 1,025 horsepower 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 was unveiled on March 20, 2023, at the Dodge Last Call Powered by Roadkill Nights Vegas performance festival at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge will return to Metro Detroit later this summer. Now in its eighth year, we are excited that we will be able to announce a new venue for the Dodge brand’s horsepower festival, with additional information to be shared in the coming weeks,” said Dodge in a statement.

Stellantis’s performance brand is in transition as its signature, V8-powered Charger and Challenger sedans will be put out to pasture at the end of this year — replaced by a new generation of Dodge Hornet SUVs and Dodge’s first-ever electric hellion, the Charger Daytona SRT Banshee. Dodge says these vehicles are the new face of the “Brotherhood of Muscle” and that Roadkill’s horsepower circus is the perfect showcase for their abilities.

M1’s 87-acre facility with a 28,500 square-foot Event Center, skid pad, and 1.5-mile test track has been an ideal complement to Roadkill drag racing and hosted new car reveals, classic car clubs, hot laps, drifting in Dodge Hellcats — even an off-road course for public rides in the 702-horse Ram TRX pickup truck.

A Dodge Challenger smokes its tires on the Dodge drift pad during Roadkill Nights.

But the event’s centerpiece has always been drag racing on 1/8th mile of adjacent Woodward Avenue just north of St. John’s hospital. With construction and safety concerns about that stretch for 2023, M1’s McGrane thinks the new venue will likely be north of M1 — just below the “Pontiac loop” between East Huron and Orchard Lake roads.

“There’s a good straight stretch of Woodward south of downtown Pontiac,” he said. “There’s grass on the west side for grandstands and a large parking lot on the east side.”

The event could return to M1 in 2024, but in the meantime, M1 is looking to host a new event for Aug. 12 weekend — bookended by M1’s own Woodward Dream Show on Aug. 18-19 during Dream Cruise weekend. Dream Show is a showcase for classis hot rods that will be highlighted by Corvette’s 70th and Ramcharger’s 65th anniversaries.

Wherever Roadkill Nights lands, the dragway will shake with ferocious, 1,000-horsepower street-legal racers invited from across America. The event also attracts a Who’s Who of mod-car celebrities like MotorTrend TV’s David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan, Steve Dulcich, Lucky Costa, Cristy Lee, and more.

Opposities: Roadkill Nights Grudge Match finalists.

The headline class will be the Dodge Direct Connection Grudge Race. Competitors will bring unique drag monsters — each built around an all-new, Dodge, 3.0-liter Hurricane Twin Turbo engine — to the starting line. Grudge Race teams will pair an experienced drag racer and online automotive builder who will then compete to be top dog.

“Roadkill Nights just continues to evolve and get better each year,” said Dodge’s Kuniskis in announcing the event last fall. “Grudge Race competitors will have at the heart of their build projects new Direct Connection HurriCrate engines. We can’t wait to see the results.”

Expect the new Roadkill venue announcement to come in May.

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.

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