{"id":29643,"date":"2022-08-13T14:06:06","date_gmt":"2022-08-13T18:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=29643"},"modified":"2022-08-13T14:06:06","modified_gmt":"2022-08-13T18:06:06","slug":"roadkill-nights-dragsters-light-up-woodward-for-a-day-of-thrills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/roadkill-nights-dragsters-light-up-woodward-for-a-day-of-thrills","title":{"rendered":"Roadkill Nights: Dragsters light up Woodward for a day of thrills"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pontiac<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 That wasn\u2019t an earthquake you felt this morning. It was dragsters on Woodward.<\/p>\n

Motor Trend presents Roadkill Nights powered by Dodge kicked off at 11 a.m. with every Detroit motorhead\u2019s dream: legal drag racing on public roads. Thousands of spectators flocked to watch 1,000-horsepower monsters dash down Detroit\u2019s most storied street on a makeshift, 1\/8-mile drag strip at the corner of Woodward and South Boulevard north of St. John\u2019s hospital.<\/p>\n

\"Shawn<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Shawn Fink, all the way from Casper, Wyoming, in his bright orange 1955 Chevy Bel-Air drag racer staged as one of the first down the strip. The beast sports a 526-cubic-inch, hemi-head Chevy engine under the hood. He recently won Sick Week in Florida, a tour of multiple Sunshine State dragways.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re on the road a lot,\u201d said Fink, flanked by his son who helps him crew. \u201cYou have to travel to a lot race tracks in street racing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Shawn<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The events really kick\u00a0into high gear late Saturday afternoon when\u00a0the Dodge Direct Connection Grudge Races are held. A diverse group of seven hot rods \u2013 including a Dodge Viper, Dodge station wagon, and a police car \u2013 are entered, all bearing common supercharged, 6.2-liter Dodge crate V-8s and manual six-speed transmissions.<\/p>\n

Entered by mod shops from Tavarish to Demonology to Corruptt Builds, they will be seeking to dethrone last year\u2019s Grudge champ, Alex Taylor in a rusted 1955 Plymouth Savoy sleeper-mobile.<\/p>\n

Taylor and her Hot Rod Garage team built the 1,000-horsepower dragster in just 27 days using a tube frame and the original Savoy top hat. Only the front bumper is not an original part. Well, that and the beastly drivetrain underneath which benefits from a 10% supercharger overdrive and nitrous oxide fuel to produce 1,000 horsepower.<\/p>\n

Taylor\u2019s keys to victory?<\/p>\n

\u201cTraction, weight, horsepower, and my drag racing experience,\u201d said the 25-year old pro drag racer who pilots a \u201968 Camaro in the Unlimited class for her day job. Taylor has been racing since she was a 15-year old in Arkansas.<\/p>\n

When the fans aren\u2019t enjoying Woodward drag races, they are pouring into the adjacent M1 Concourse for thrill rides around Champion Motor Speedway in 700-horsepower Dodge Hellcats.<\/p>\n

EVENT INFO<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where:<\/strong><\/p>\n

M1 Concourse, 164 South Blvd. West, Pontiac<\/p>\n

When:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saturday 10 a.m.-9 p.m.<\/p>\n

Schedule:<\/strong><\/p>\n

10 a.m.\u00a0\u2014 Gates open to the public,\u00a0event begins<\/p>\n

Photo opportunities as muscle\/vintage\/classic cars enter M1 Concourse<\/p>\n

Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge event activities begin \u2014 Dodge Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcat thrill and drift rides, dyno testing, and Ram TRX Thrill Ride Experience off-road course<\/p>\n

11 a.m. \u2014 Drag racing begins with open qualifying session (all drag racing can be viewed via livestream at DodgeGarage.com,Dodge.com,Dodge and MotorTrend YouTube channels)<\/p>\n

4:45 p.m. \u2014 Dodge Direct Connection Grudge Races begin<\/p>\n

5:45 p.m. \u2014 Top Eight shootout driver announcements<\/p>\n

6:15 p.m. \u2014 Opening ceremony<\/p>\n

6:30 p.m. \u2014 Top Eight shootouts begin (Small Tire & Big Tire)<\/p>\n

8:30 p.m. \u2014 Top Eight winners\u2019 awards ceremony<\/p>\n

9 p.m.\u00a0\u2014 Event concludes<\/p>\n

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pontiac\u00a0\u2013 That wasn\u2019t an earthquake you felt this morning. It was dragsters on Woodward. Motor Trend presents Roadkill Nights powered by Dodge kicked off at 11 a.m. with every Detroit motorhead\u2019s dream: legal drag racing on public roads. Thousands of spectators flocked to watch 1,000-horsepower monsters dash down Detroit\u2019s most storied street on a makeshift, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29643"}],"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=29643"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29644,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29643\/revisions\/29644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}