{"id":24096,"date":"2019-08-14T09:29:56","date_gmt":"2019-08-14T13:29:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=24096"},"modified":"2019-08-14T09:29:56","modified_gmt":"2019-08-14T13:29:56","slug":"roadkill-nights-rocks-woodward-with-dragsters-burnouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/roadkill-nights-rocks-woodward-with-dragsters-burnouts","title":{"rendered":"Roadkill Nights rocks Woodward with dragsters, burnouts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Two<\/p>\n<\/div>

Pontiac\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 The run-up to the 25th annual Dream Cruise opened with a roar Friday as\u00a0MotorTrend Group\u2019s Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge took over the M1 Concourse.<\/p>\n

Muscle-car fans poured into the motorsports track to ogle 700-plus-horsepower Challenger and Charger Hellcats, take thrill rides\u00a0and witness dyno and smokey-burnout contests.<\/p>\n

For the fifth year, the Dodge-sponsored event officially kicks off two weekends of Woodward Dream Cruise mania that culminates Aug.17 in America\u2019s longest traffic jam as auto enthusiasts cruise from Pontiac to Ferndale.<\/p>\n

The festivities ramp up Saturday, Aug. 10, as Roadkill Nights extends the fun to Woodward Avenue. The\u00a0street\u00a0north of St. Joseph Mercy Oakland\u00a0hospital in Pontiac is shut down\u00a0at 11 a.m. for a day of street-legal,one-eighth-mile drag racing.<\/p>\n

Thousands of attendees will cheer on 140 licensed drag racers into the twilight Saturday as they vie for a $30,000 purse. They will get an earth-shaking exhibition from NHRA superstars Leah Pritchett and Carl Hagan when they do slingshot runs in their 10,000-horsepower dragsters.<\/p>\n

Even local law enforcement will join the fun as Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard and Macomb Sheriff Anthony Wickersham face off for a drag-racing duel in 797-horse, Dodge Challenger SRT Red Eye Widebody monsters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to be part of kicking off the Dream Cruise,\u201d said Dodge Challenger brand manager Kevin Hellman (yes, he drives a Hellcat). \u201cWe get to show what our cars are capable of up here. And after some rain the last two years, we\u2019ve got a really good weather report for the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s drag racing will be hosted by TV car guys David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan of the popular Motor Trend Channel show \u201cRoadkill Nights.\u201d The pair will\u00a0record an episode of their show at 6:15 p.m.\u00a0Saturday on the Woodward drag strip.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis event is one of the highlights of our year,\u201d Freiburger said in the Roadkill paddock Friday surrounded by Dodge muscle. \u201cThe top moment is when Leah and Carl pull out (their) dragsters and explode down the strip.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pritchett and Hagan return this year in, respectively, their Dodge Top Fuel and Funny Car dragsters that rattled eardrums and watered eyes last year. Burning nitromethane fuel in specially built Hemi V-8 engines, the two dragsters are a visceral sensation down the 660-foot Woodward strip.<\/p>\n

Hagan\u2019s car will debut the Hellcat Widebody on his Funny Car dragster (Funny Cars have full bodies,\u00a0unlike Top Fuel dragsters). That Widebody look was ubiquitous around the M1 Concourse grounds as both of Dodge\u2019s iconic Challenger coupe and Charger sedans are now available with the muscular wheel-well additions.<\/p>\n

Fans lined up to get tire-shredding thrill rides in high-horsepower Hellcats \u2013 the 717-horse Challenger and\u00a0707-horsepower Charger \u2013 with pro drivers like Jason Quinn,\u00a0who steered his beast effortlessly around pylons in M1\u2019s skid pad Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese cars are just so capable,\u201d he said after a growling, tire-screeching lap. \u201cWe go through a set of rear tires every two hours, but the fronts will last all day.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the Woodward grandstand Saturday, fans will get to watch drivers compete for $30,000 in prize money split between two classes, Big Tire and Small Tire. Another $10,000 purse will be donated to the United Way as part of a Celebrity Showdown Drag Race that will include Freiburger, Finnegan and other top drivers.<\/p>\n

Behind the fun, of course, is a business plan as Dodge hopes the thrills will lead to sales in the showroom. Roadkill Nights has been a hit since it moved to M1 four years ago from the Pontiac Silverdome. Last year, 44,000 people walked through the gates and another 4.1 million tuned in via Dodge\u2019s social media channels.<\/p>\n

Roadkill\u2019s popularity inspired Dodge to expand the event to Friday this year as a two-day affair.<\/p>\n

\n

Families who experience the Hellcats will be pleased to know that there are Challengers and Chargers with less, um, hellish capabilities. While the Dodge siblings are available in three different\u00a0\u00a0Dream Cruise-friendly V-8s, they can also be had in a more-civilized, 300-horse all-wheel drive V-6 package for all-season driving.<\/p>\n

Dodge Charger Brand Manager Ashton Munoz says the all-wheel drive muscle cars have proved popular with all-wheel Charger sales hitting 18% of sales volume last year.<\/p>\n

But there is no doubt the bad-boy Hellcat has remade the brand, vaulting sales to No. 2 in the\u00a0segment behind only the\u00a0Ford Mustang.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see more and more moms with kids driving around in Hellcats,\u201d Munoz says.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve no doubt been infected by Roadkill\u2019s need for speed. When they aren\u2019t watching drag racers launching down Woodward, drifting in a Hellcat, watching freestyle motocross stunt shows \u2014\u00a0or bellying up to food trucks across the grounds \u2014\u00a0fans can climb into a simulator and test their skill behind the wheel of an 840-horsepower Challenger DSRT Demon, the most powerful Dodge on the road.<\/p>\n

MotorTrend Group\u2019s Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Events take place on Woodward Avenue near St. Joseph Mercy Oakland in Pontiac, and at the nearby M1 Concourse motorsports track.<\/p>\n

Friday<\/strong><\/p>\n

Through 9 p.m.: Events at M1 Concourse<\/p>\n

Saturday<\/strong><\/p>\n

10 a.m.: Gates to M1 Concourse open, with muscle, vintage and classic cars;\u00a0Dodge Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcat thrill and drift rides; and dyno testing<\/p>\n

11 a.m.: Drag racing begins on Woodward with open qualifying sessions<\/p>\n

11:30 a.m.: Freestyle motocross show (behind bleachers)<\/p>\n

4 p.m.: Open drag racing qualifying concludes<\/p>\n

4:15 p.m.:\u00a0Leah Pritchett and\u00a0Matt Hagan top fuel exhibition burnouts on Woodward<\/p>\n

4:45 p.m.: Celebrity shootout begins on Woodward Avenue<\/p>\n

5:45 p.m.: Top 8 shootout driver announcements<\/p>\n

6 p.m.:\u00a0Sheriff Showdown: Macomb County\u2019\u00a0Sheriff Wickersham and Oakland County\u2019 Sheriff Bouchard will compete in a drag-racing\u00a0grudge match<\/p>\n

6:30 p.m.: Flamethrower and\u00a0wheelstander exhibition run<\/p>\n

8 p.m.: Freestyle motocross show<\/p>\n

8:30 p.m.:\u00a0Top 8 shootouts begin (small tire and\u00a0big tire)<\/p>\n

9 p.m.:\u00a0Dodge Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcat thrill and drift rides conclude; top 8 winners awards ceremony<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pontiac\u00a0\u2013 The run-up to the 25th annual Dream Cruise opened with a roar Friday as\u00a0MotorTrend Group\u2019s Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge took over the M1 Concourse. Muscle-car fans poured into the motorsports track to ogle 700-plus-horsepower Challenger and Charger Hellcats, take thrill rides\u00a0and witness dyno and smokey-burnout contests. For the fifth year, the Dodge-sponsored event […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24096"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24096\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}