Roadkill Nights by Dodge Brings Legal Street Racing Back to Detroit

For the seventh year in a row, Roadkill Nights by Dodge will be held in Pontiac, Michigan, and while the event technically takes place at the M1 Concourse road racing facility, the main attraction is the legal street racing program that is held on Metro Detroit’s famous Woodward Avenue.

Dodge Charger Race at Roadkill Nights

“We are marking the seventh year of Roadkill Nights because of the passion of our enthusiasts, who have turned out by the tens of thousands year after year to join us in an annual celebration of all things high performance,” said Tim Kuniskis, Dodge brand CEO – Stellantis. “We can’t wait to return to Woodward with our friends from MotorTrend.”

The 2022 Roadkill Nights by Dodge will be held on Saturday, August 13 and has been the case in past years, this one-day automotive festival will include a sprawling show-n-shine area with both modern and classic vehicles on display, Dodge thrill rides with a professional driver, Dodge driving simulators, lots of free Dodge swag, food trucks and, of course, the legal street racing program.

“If you’ve ever dreamed of watching street-legal drag racing down Woodward Avenue, come to our event! It’s going to be an absolutely epic day and night,” said Eric Schwab, MotorTrend Group’s group SVP, head of revenue and partnerships. “Going seven years strong, the event has something for everyone. Whether you’re a drag racer, car enthusiast or looking for a fun day to spend with family, Roadkill Nights promises a dynamic experience.”

The full details – including pricing – are not available yet, but we can expect the event schedule, spectator tickets, car show registration, participant registration for drag racing and the unique VIP packages will be available early this summer. With the event being held in mid-August, we expect that registration will open up sometime in July.

Roadkill Nights History

When the first Roadkill Nights by Dodge was held back in 2015, the venue was the parking lot of the old Pontiac Silverdome (which has now been torn down). That event was free to everyone, whether you were racing, showing off your vehicle or just spectating. The key issue with the “free for everyone” approach was that there was lots of vehicles in the racing program that had no business being driven on public roads – let alone raced in front of a crowd. That event was amazing, but there was plenty of room for improvement.

Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge

In 2016, Roadkill Nights moved to the M1 Concourse and the location along Woodward Avenue opened up the possibility of the legal street racing program. At the same time, the racing program changed from “free for anyone who wants to race” to the racers applying and being picked to race. This led to a smaller field of race vehicles, but there is no question that the quality of the racing program improved greatly once the vehicles were being vetted.

Since 2016, Roadkill Nights by Dodge has made tweaks to the program and as a result, it has gotten bigger and better each year. It is no longer free to race, show or spectate, but there it is worth every cent – as there is simply nothing like Roadkill Nights by Dodge held anywhere in the world.

Builder Showdown

The addition to Roadkill Nights for the 2021 event was the “Builder Showdown”, where a handful of YouTubers (below) were pickup to build Dodge cars (that they were given) and build them pretty much however they wanted (with money provided by the event) to make the quickest street racers possible. Some of the cars were barely modified while others were basically converted from street cars to pro mod race cars, and in the end, Alex Taylor drove her massively modified Dodge Challenger to the win.

Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge

The Builder Showdown is back for 2022, but it is now called the Dodge Direct Connection Grudge Race. This year, competitors are required to use Direct Connection parts to build their car “under a tight deadline”, using things like the Redeye HellCrate engine and all of the other go-fast goodies from the Direct Connection catalog.

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