Woodward Avenue in Pontiac, Mich., transformed into a drag strip for the first-ever legal street racing during the second annual Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge on Friday, Aug. 19. Building on the huge success of last year’s premiere event at the Pontiac Silverdome, Dodge and TEN: The Enthusiast Network muscled their way onto historic Highway 1 – Woodward Avenue – for nine hours of drag racing. Performance enthusiasts traveled from as far away as Kansas and Alabama to race for a total cash purse of $19,000.
“From a Dodge perspective, this was an absolutely epic event,” said Tim Kuniskis, Head of Passenger Car Brands – Dodge, SRT, Chrysler and FIAT, FCA – North America. “Performance is more than a set of numbers, it’s an attitude. More than 30,000 performance enthusiasts, triple the number that attended of last year, showed up to be a part of this incredible event – the first-ever legal drag racing on Woodward. Roadkill Nights is a tremendous opportunity to connect with our fellow performance enthusiasts, embrace those who are already Dodge owners and give potential owners a chance to get a real feeling what Dodge is all about.”More than 350 street-legal cars hit the specially prepped 1/8-mile drag strip on Woodward Avenue between Rapid Street and South Boulevard to compete in high-powered drag racing for cash prizes. In addition, more than 1,000 cars rolled in for a show ‘n’ shine car show. Fans also lined up for thrill rides in Dodge Charger SRT Hellcats, Challenger SRT Hellcats and Dodge Vipers on a drifting course with professional drivers.
Mike Moran of Taylor, Mich., won the top cash prize, $10,000, when his 1969 Dodge Charger powered by a 5.6-liter twin turbo Gen 2 HEMI® V-8, sped to a winning finish in an old-school grudge-style drag race.