The eighth edition of MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge lured a crowd of more than 42,000 drag racing enthusiasts to its new location on the streets of downtown Pontiac on Aug. 12.
This year’s expanded event featured street-festival entertainment with artists, musicians, a concert by Ice Cube, and activations by Amazon, Mickey Thompson, Tremec, and Aeromotive.
“The eighth edition of MotorTrend presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge featured fresh new event elements, with a unique new downtown Pontiac event location, a new team format that increased the smack talk for the Direct Connection Grudge Race, and an amazing performance by a world-famous artist to wrap up the day,” says Tim Kuniskis, CEO of the Dodge and Ram brands for Auburn Hills-based Stellantis.
“The bar just keeps getting higher and higher for our annual horsepower circus, because we know it’s what drives our Brotherhood of Muscle.”
The corner of Woodward Avenue and West Pike Street went through an overnight transformation to become a legal public-road dragstrip for some of America’s quickest street cars. After watching the professionals race, spectators had the opportunity to feel the excitement of racing with Dodge Hellcat drift rides and hot laps.
Roadkill Nights also offered the Dodge Direct Connection Grudge Race. Six teams of mentors and rookies — Team Sick-Bastards (Detroit), Team Corruptt (Phoenix), Team Dahminators (Los Angeles), Team Truck Yeah (Kansas City), Team Throtl (San Diego), and Team Soul Snatcher (Dallas) — were connected with a Dodge Power Brokers dealer as they used Direct Connection performance parts as the foundation to build a Dodge or Plymouth drag car.
The teams then went head-to-head on the drag strip, ultimately crowning Team Corruptt the winner.
Team Corruptt dropped a Direct Connection Hellcrate Redeye 6.2L Supercharged Crate HEMI engine and engine controller unit into its 1969 Plymouth Barracuda vehicle build. In her Roadkill Nights debut, driver Kayla Rundle defeated the 2001 Dodge Viper of Team Throtl member Quin Clark to earn 2023 Grudge Race bragging rights.
“After spending the last few weeks working toward this moment, there was nothing but excitement when I finally got behind the wheel,” says Rundle about bringing home the crown for Team Corruptt. “I’ve always loved drag racing, and as a female racer, rookie, and first-timer at Roadkill Nights, this was truly a dream come true.”
The Big Tire (over 275mm width) and Small Tire (275mm width and under) classes saw competitors battling for bragging rights and cash prizes on the brand-new street drag strip. Each class winner earned $5,000, with the fastest Dodge cars in both classes taking home another $5,000 each. Winners included:
Big Tire Racing
Jimmer Kline, Wyoming — 1966 Acadian Chevy
Joe Barry, Colorado Springs, Colo. — 1956 Chevrolet 210
Small Tire Racing
Mikael Borggren, Northville — 1987 Volvo Wagon
Adam Wright, Fort Wayne, Ind. — 2001 Chevy Camaro
Additional activities included a Dodge Direct Connection Alley area with Dodge Challenger SRT Demon virtual drag race simulators, Direct Connection crate engines, project vehicles and parts displays, Dodge Hellcat drift rides and hot laps, car cruise-in with classic and modern muscle cars, a display of the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept, RC car demonstrations, a Dodge Hornet ride area, music, and entertainment.
“For the eighth straight year, we’ve brought car culture to life for gearheads at MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge, and this year we elevated the experience to unprecedented heights,” says Eric Schwab, group senior vice president, head of revenue, operations, and partnerships at MotorTrend.
“With a new location in downtown Pontiac, we expanded and drew a record-breaking attendance of more than 42,000 automotive fans, treating them to a pulse-pounding day of white-knuckle drag racing, adrenaline-infused thrill rides, and a show-stopping musical extravaganza headlined by none other than Ice Cube, delivering on the excitement that Roadkill Nights promises year over year.”
Fans unable to attend MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge could watch the event via livestream, which can still be found at Dodge.com, DodgeGarage.com, Dodge’s YouTube channel, MotorTrend’s YouTube channel, and MotorTrend’s video streaming service as event replays. Two half-hour Roadkill episodes will air on MotorTrend television in late 2023.
